On the morning of January 8, 2010, a bus carrying the Togo national football team and delegation was attacked by gunmen while traveling through the region of Cabinda, an Angolan exclave on the Atlantic coast. The team was en route to participation in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations scheduled to be hosted in Angola. The ambush took place on a road between the Cabindan city of Santo António and the town of Isso, according to contemporaneous reporting. The attack resulted in multiple casualties. The bus driver and at least two members of the Togolese delegation were killed, and several players and officials were injured. Among the wounded were coach Hubert Velud and several team officials; some players sustained injuries of varying severity. Initial chaos followed the shooting as survivors sought medical help and evacuation. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) or factions associated with Cabindan separatists, who have long sought independence for Cabinda from Angola. Angolan authorities and some international outlets described the incident as an ambush by separatist militants; FLEC factions issued statements characterizing the attack in differing terms, and there was debate at the time over whether the team had been intentionally targeted or caught in violence directed at Angolan military convoys. In the immediate aftermath, the Togolese Football Federation and team officials announced withdrawal from the tournament and the team returned home amid national mourning. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) faced criticism over security arrangements for teams traveling in the region; CAF later allowed Togo to withdraw without sanction. The attack prompted wider scrutiny of security in Cabinda and at the tournament, and led to increased protective measures for visiting delegations. International reactions included condemnation from the Angolan government and appeals for restraint from regional organizations. The violence highlighted long-standing tensions in Cabinda, which is geographically separated from the rest of Angola and has experienced periodic insurgency and clashes with Angolan security forces over decades. Investigations and reporting after the incident produced differing accounts of specific details such as the number of attackers, the sequence of events, and the extent to which the bus was a deliberate target versus collateral to an attack on a military convoy. Some sources described an assault by several gunmen who opened fire from bushes and then fled; others emphasized confusion amid crossfire involving Angolan security forces. Independent verification of all claims proved difficult in the immediate aftermath due to limited access to the remote site. The January 8 attack had lasting effects on Togolese football and on security planning for international sporting events in volatile regions. It remains a referenced incident in discussions about the risks teams face while traveling for competitions and the responsibilities of host nations and organizing bodies to provide secure transit routes.