Gunmen attack Togo soccer team

Gunmen opened fire on Friday on the bus carrying the Togo national football team in Angola, reportedly wounding several players ahead of the African Cup of Nations.

“We were machine-gunned like dogs,” Togo player Thomas Dossevi, who plays for French club Nantes, told Radio Monte Carlo (RMC). “They were armed to the teeth... We spent 20 minutes underneath the seats of the bus.”

RMC reported that three players were seriously injured in the attack – Serge Gakpe, who plays for Monaco, Serge Akakpo of Romanian club Vaslui and Kodjovi Obilale of French lower league team Pontivy. The team’s top player, Emmanuel Adebayor, was not hurt, according to his club Manchester City.

According to other reports, the bus driver was killed.“They should not have traveled by road,” Togolese football federation vice president Gabriel Ameyi said in Lome. “They did not tell CAF that they were traveling by road. They should have flown to Angola.”Ameyi said two team doctors were among the injured.

The injured were taken to a hospital in Cabinda. “We had just crossed the border and were going through customs,” Dossevi told Infosport television in France. “We were surrounded by police buses. Everything looked fine and we came under heavy fire. Everyone scrambled under the seats trying to protect themselves. It lasted at least a quarter of an hour with the police responding.”