UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS opened fire on the coach carrying Togo’s national soccer squad to the Africa Cup of Nations 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. The attack happened 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 players and two medics, he said. Some of those wounded would have to be evacuated for treatment, he said, but gave no further details of their identity or the extent of their injuries.

The Angolan minister in charge of affairs in Cabinda, Antonio Bento Bembe, called the attack an act of terrorism. Cabinda is an oil producing region that has been the target of attacks in the past by a separatist group called Flec.

However, Bento Bembe denied the attack on the soccer squad had been done by Flec rebels.

The attack, which took place just two days before the start of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, could overshadow the pan-continental tournament that was expected to have much of Africa glued to television and radio sets for the next three weeks.

Togo striker Thomas Dossevi told French daily L'Equipe's website (www.lequipe.fr) he no longer felt like playing in the tournament. "We have not yet been thinking about possible moves but it is true that nobody wants to play," he said.

“We are not able to. My first concern is about the injured people’s health because there was a lot of blood on the floor.”

Premier League clubs are preparing to bring their African stars home if assurances cannot be provided over their safety following today’s attack.

Manchester City – whose star striker Emmanuel Adebayor was not harmed in the attack – and Portsmouth have contacted the English FA, asking them to speak to Fifa to ensure players’ safety can be guaranteed, and calling for them to be sent home if it cannot.