Second separatist group claims Togo team attack
LUANDA — A second separatist group on Tuesday claimed it was behind last week's deadly shooting on the Togolese football team in Angola's oil-rich enclave of Cabinda.
The attack has already been claimed by Rodrigues Mingas, head of the Forces for the Liberation of the State of Cabinda-Military Position (FLEC-PM), one of the many guerrilla groups battling for independence in the northern province.
But a larger group known as the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda (FLEC-FAC) on Tuesday said they had opened fire on Togo's convoy on Friday, killing two of the squad.
"We are not terrorists, the attack did not target our Togolese brothers," said Jean-Claude N'Zita, who leads FLEC-FAC, adding the intended target was the team's Angolan military escorts.
"Every time the Armed Forces of Cabinda sees an Angolan convoy, they open fire," he said.
N'Zita dismissed Mingas's faction as "opportunists". Related article: Rebels fight for independence from Angola
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Angolan police arrested two people earlier today, on charges of attacking the football team from Togo that was travelling by bus en route to a tournament, which left two of the Togolese team's support staff and their Angolan bus driver dead.

Macario Lembe, the deputy governor of Angola's Cabinda province, commented on the incident. "Two assailants were captured on Friday, one a few minutes after the attack and the second at the border while crossing into Congo-Brazzaville. The first suspect was injured in his left thigh by police who responded when he opened fire from a tree at the Togolese bus."

The two arrested suspects were reportedly part of a team of five that ambushed the Togolese bus with gunfire on Friday as it passed through Cabinda, a province of Angola. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Togolese team pulled out of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, which opened yesterday, due to the ambush.