Washington, DC — Government forces have killed Unita leader Jonas Savimbi, the Associated Press and the BBC are reporting citing a joint government-army statement read on state radio and television in Luanda on Friday.

According to a spokesperson at the Angola Embassy in Washington, DC, after a battle in the eastern Angolan province of Moxico, Savimbi was killed around 3pm Angolan time.

There has been no independent confirmation of the claim.

The spokesman for Unita in Portugal, Adalberto da Costa Junior, said he was not in a position to confirm news of the death of the Unita leader but he said it was not the first time such a claim had been made.

Since October last year, the government's army has been waging a fierce campaign against Unita in the east. Just last week General Galiano Da Silva e Sousa, Unita's national political commissioner was reported killed and other senior officers captured in Moxico as Unita forces retreated toward Zambia.

The captured officers reportedly included General Almeida Ezequiel Chiccende, also known as "Buffalo Bill" and second-in-command to Unita's military chief.

Unita has been fighting the government since 1975. Although elections were held during a 1992 ceasfire, Unita did not accept the results and returned to war.