Driver killed in gun attack on Togo soccer team

LOME/LUANDA, (Reuters) – Unknown assailants opened  fire on the coach carrying Togo’s national football squad to the  top African tournament in Angola yesterday, killing the driver  and wounding four others, a Togolese official said.

“The Angolan driver was killed on the spot,” said a Togolese  sports ministry spokesman in Lome, adding that the attack took  place in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, where a separatist  group has waged a three-decade long war against the government.

He said the wounded included two squad members and two  medics. He said some of those wounded would have to be evacuated  for treatment but gave no further details of their identity or  the extent of their injuries.

The attack comes just two days before the start of the 2010  African Nations Cup, a pan-continental tournament which will  have much of Africa glued to television and radio sets for the  next three weeks. Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor was uninjured  after the attack in Angola, the Premier League club said on  their website (www.mcfc.co.uk).

City said club officials have spoken with Adebayor and that  he was unharmed, though shaken by the terrible events.

Togo were due to play Ghana in a Group B tie on Monday.