Huambo was a sorry sight even before this war began.

It is hard to find a building not shattered by bullets, mortar and artillery fire from fighting in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.

Now the city and its people bear new scars. Unita rebels are shelling Huambo on most days.

They attacked a government oil installation here last week, and last month even entered the airport on foot.

The Angolan Government now claims to have pushed them back and it is clearly reinforcing the city.

But nearly everything, from military hardware to humanitarian supplies, has to be flown in, sometimes under fire.

Population trapped

The road from the capital, Luanda, has largely been cut by Unita. Relief agencies are taking advantage of a lull in the heaviest fighting to bring in supplies.

Greg Barrow tells the story of a women forced out of Huambo by war

About 300,000 people are trapped here, living where they can. Nearly half of them have fled Unita attacks on their villages in the surrounding countryside. Many are malnourished, some severely so, and are living off handouts from the United Nations World Food Programme.

The WPF is trying to stockpile supplies while it can. Soon the rainy season will arrive, a time when the government's heavy weaponry gets bogged down and Unita's guerrilla tactics come into their own.