Violence against the youth, who have been organizing anti-government protests, is the most prominent aspect of the campaign by the regime to entrench itself in power. Yet, a more sinister operation has been unfolding: kidnappings and torture.

The puzzling question remains: Why would the two political activists be kidnapped when the protest they had planned had already been aborted?

Rampant poverty is the main source of potential instability in Angola, with the main threat emerging from rapidly growing cities, according to this paper commissioned by the US Africa Command and written by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

A group of rappers in Angola known for their anti-government lyrics have been beaten up in the capital, Luanda. About 15 masked men burst into the house where they were meeting. 'They didn't say a word, they just started to beat the people,' Kady Mixinge, a member of the group who was injured in the raid, told the BBC.