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A separatist leader warned Tuesday that rebels could launch more
attacks during the African Cup of Nations tournament but added that
only Angolan soldiers would be targeted, not athletes or fans.
Three people were killed and eight were wounded Friday during
an attack on the Togolese national team bus as it traveled with an
Angolan escort to the continentwide football tournament. The Front
for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, an Angolan separatist
group, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
"Cabinda is at war, there is no truce," Rodrigues Mingas, the
group's self-proclaimed leader, told The Associated Press by
telephone, referring to the area in Angola where the bus was
attacked.
Mingas says the separatists were only targeting soldiers
guarding the bus but added that his men would continue to attack
Angolan forces - even those providing security at the stadium in
Cabinda, where three more African Cup games are to be played.
"War is war," Mingas said Tuesday, but he insisted that fans,
players and foreigners would not be targeted.
"Our goal is not to kill foreigners and Togolese who have
nothing to do with this," he said. "We are battling the Angolan
military."
He said the attack was not targeted at the Togolese team or
the tournament itself.
"You know the insurgents don't have a crystal ball ... it was
routine," he said. "With binoculars they looked and said, 'Look
there are some Angolan troops over there, let's ambush them."'
Mingas has spoken to Western media over the past days from a
French mobile phone although his whereabouts are unclear. French
authorities were looking into whether he was in France, a day after
he spoke with state-backed France-Info radio.
Africa expert Alex Vines at the Chatham House think tank in
London said there is a "proliferation of splinter groups" in
Cabinda without a common approach.
In recent years they have been breaking up into "smaller and
smaller cells which are pretty autonomous." He said such groups may
have only a few hundred troops using hit-and-run tactics.
The next game in Cabinda comes Friday when Ivory Coast plays
Ghana, a clash of teams with many players from Europe's richest
leagues.
Authorities have arrested two suspects in the restive Cabinda
region but Mingas those were civilians, not his men. He said 15
separatists were involved in the attack on the bus, and one was
injured.
He said Angolan authorities made the arrests "to reduce the
pressure" on them and to show that the Angolan government was
taking action. The bus attack had drawn headlines around the world.
Mingas said his group had written two month ago to Issa
Hayatou, the head of the CAF African Football Federation, to warn
of impending trouble.
"Mr. Hayatou did not want to take us seriously," he said.
Togo was to have played its opening game against Ghana on
Monday at the tournament but the team reluctantly left Angola late
Sunday. Players had said they wanted to compete to honor those
killed, but their government sent the presidential plane and
declared it was not safe to stay.
Togo's assistant coach and team spokesman were killed in the
attack Friday, as was the Angolan bus driver. Eight people were
wounded, including a goalkeeper who was flown to South Africa for
treatment.
