Background of the Togo Attack

A recent revelation from Angolan rebels has revealed that the attacks were meant to be on the convoy and not the Togolese team:

"This attack was not aimed at the Togolese players but at the Angolan forces at the head of the convoy," Mingas told France 24 television. "So it was pure chance that the gunfire hit the players. We don't have anything to do with the Togolese and we present our condolences to the African families and the Togo government. We are fighting for the total liberation of Cabinda."

Rodrigues Mindas is the secretary general of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Flec). I didn't know much about the organization, so I decided to look up more information about what they are about:

The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda is a guerrilla and political movement fighting for the independence of the Angolan province of Cabinda.

It's guerilla organization seeking independence from Angola. Cabinda is separated from Angola by a strip of land of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are some of the largest oil fields in the world off the coast, making at an important territory for Angola. Disputes over the territories date back to Portuguese colonization and the Treaty of Simulambuco. The Treaty made Cabinda a protectorate of the Portuguese Crown:

“the princes and governors of Cabinda”.

Article 1 of the treaty, states, “the princes and chiefs and their successors declare, voluntarily, their recognition of Portuguese sovereignty, placing under the protectorate of this nation all the territories by them governed”

Article 2 goes farther:

rticle 2, which is often used in separatist arguments, goes even further: “Portugal is obliged to maintain the integrity of the territories placed under its protection.”

Cabinda was incorporated separately into the Portuguese Empire from Angola. This is the heart of the separatist fight. The claim that Angolan rule is illegal. You can read more about Cabinda here.