Angola to beef up security after attack

09 January 2010 09:13

Angola insist the African Nations Cup will go ahead safely despite Friday's armed attack on the Togo squad.

The Togo team had just crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda when they came under machine gunfire. The bus driver was killed while two players were among the injured in the attack, which lasted for around 15 minutes.

Angolan minister of youth and sports Goncalves Muandumba said his country would step up security, saying on BBC Radio: "We are going to redouble our efforts. We are going to further reinforce all the mechanisms and continue to guarantee security and to create all the conditions which guarantee the success and organisation of the African Nations Cup."

He added: "It was an unfortunate incident and we will find those responsible."

Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor revealed on Friday night the team would decide at a meeting whether to pull out of the tournament, which is due to start on Sunday, and admitted a lot of the players wanted to leave.

Muandumba is set to be part of a delegation meeting with the Confederation of African Football on Saturday.

CAF held an emergency meeting on Friday night and released a statement where they talked about taking "decisions to guarantee the smooth running of the competition".

The statement read: "The Confederation of African Football condemned the attack against the Togolese delegation convoy heading to Cabinda from Congo.

"The Angolan Football Association president, who is also the director general of the Local Organising Committee, Mr Justino Fernandes, informed the CAF Executive Committee that the incident happened 10 kilometres within the Angolan territory.

"The Angolan authority deployed immediately a team down there to assess the exact situation. According to the information provided by the director general, all injured people were taken to a hospital in Cabinda."

Source: PA