"According to information received from local authorities, there is no recent record of deaths of Brazilian citizens in Angola", responded the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Lusa.
On Wednesday, the Armed Forces of Cabinda (FAC), the armed wing of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) announced the deaths of seven soldiers from the Angolan Armed Forces and three Brazilian citizens in clashes in the Maiombe region.
According to a statement from FLEC-FAC, the seven Angolan soldiers and Brazilian citizens were killed in two clashes that took place this Tuesday morning, in the villages of Kisungo and Tando Maselele, in the municipality of Belize, region of Maiombe (north of Cabinda).
Eight Angolan soldiers were also injured in the attack.
Lusa questioned the Ministry of Defense for official confirmation about the incident, but received no response.
A source at the Brazilian embassy said they had no information about Brazilian citizens and that consular channels had not been contacted.
FLEC, through its "armed wing", the FAC, has been fighting for the independence of that province for several decades, claiming that the enclave was a Portuguese protectorate, as established in the Treaty of Simulambuco, signed in 1885, and not an integral part of the Angolan territory.
Cabinda is bordered to the north by the Republic of Congo, to the east and south by the Democratic Republic of Congo and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, being geographically disconnected from Angolan territory.
