Angolan President Joáo Lourenço has for the first time this Friday decreed a day of national mourning in honour of victims of political violence. 

The decree was widely published by local media, including the presidency. 

It mandated that on Friday, all flags should fly at half-mast and all public shows of an entertainment nature be cancelled or postponed. 

The mourning period lasted from 00:00 AM to 11:59 PM. 

The decree invokes the need to honour the memory of all Angolan citizens who lost their lives as a consequence of political conflicts that plagued the country and the collective suffering that the Angolan people experienced. 

The period covered by the decree encompasses the almost 30-year civil war that pitted the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), in which about a million people died. 

The war began shortly after Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975 when the two former anti-colonial guerrillas battled for power. 
The war finally ended in 2002 following the death of the UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.