Footballers 'gunned down like dogs'

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Togo's national football squad to African Cup of Nations in Angola, killing the driver and wounding nine others, including two players.

Adebayor...prayed to God to save him

Manchester City's Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor was among those uninjured in the attack on Friday, two days before the start of the 2010 African Cup of Nations, Africa's most-followed sporting event.

Adebayor's team mate midfielder Moustapha Salifou who plays for Aston Villa midfielder, also escaped unhurt but goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale and defender Serge Akakpo were wounded along with an assistant manager, a doctor and a journalist.

The bus had just entered the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, where rebels have waged a three-decade long war, when it came under heavy machinegun fire for between 20 minutes to half an hour.

Adebayor told UK's The Sun: "They shot at us for 30 minutes - all we could do was pray to God we'd live."
 "We've seen one of our team-mates have a bullet in his body, who is crying, who is losing consciousness. We've seen death. It's one of the worst things I have ever been through. It was horrific.

Video-grab image of an injured played being brought to safety

"I never thought I'd ever live through an experience like that. All we had to do was to pray to God to save you."

His team mate, midfielder Thomas Dossevi who plays for Nantes told the UK's Mirror  that they were "machine-gunned like dogs" and had to hide under our seats to avoid the bullets."

"We had security but not enough. Three players were shot in the stomach, the driver was hit. There was blood pouring down the bus."

The Front for the Liberation of Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) seperatist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

FLEC's leader Rodrigues Mingas was reported to have said that the attack was the start of a series of planned actions to take place in the territory of Cabinda.

The Confederation of African Football, however stressed that the tournament the tournament scheduled to run from Jan 10 to Jan 31, would go ahead.

Many top players of the tournament are also stars of European football. They include Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o of Inter Milan, Ivory Coast striker Dider Drogba (Chelsea) and Manchester City's Adebayor, who was voted 2009's African Footballer of the Year.

CAF spokesman Suleimanu Habubu said the "Our first priority is the safety of the players but the tournament will go ahead," CAF spokesman Suleimanu Habubu said.

The CAF condemned the attack against the Togo delegation convoy and held an emergency meeting on that issue.

Video-grab image of one of the injured being taken to hospital

Angolan Football Association president Justino Fernandes who is also director general of the local organising committee said the attack happened 10 km within the Angolan territory.

The Angolan Prime Minister met CAF President, Issa Hayatou on Saturday to ensure the smooth running of the competition.

The Confederation of African Football is terribly saddened by this events and express its total support as well as sympathy to the entire Togolese delegation.

Many of the players at the tournament are with clubs at the top level of European football including Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o of Internazionale, Chelsea's Ivory Coast striker Dider Drogba and Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor, who was African Footballer of the Year last year.

Cabinda is a small enclave separated from the rest of Angola by a strip of land belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The roots of the conflict between the government and FLEC are deep but among the main grievances is that the people in the area do not gain much from the oil produced from their land.

- Agencies