According to a statement signed by the spokesman for the CTF, António do Rosário Luciano, the attack against the independence movement camp in the village of Tando-Bocoto took place around 9:30 pm and was "vigorously repressed" by the Cabindans, resulting in six deaths, two CTF soldiers, three from the Angolan Armed Forces and one civilian.
The communiqué states that the Angolan soldiers left behind three Ak-47 type weapons.
The incident happened a few hours after FLEC-FAC, which claims the independence of that province, proposed to the United Nations to hold a summit to relaunch the peace process, on the occasion of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The independents invited the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, to organize a "mini-summit" dedicated to peace and security in the region, suggesting a meeting in Brazzaville (capital of the Republic of Congo), under the direction of Denis Sassou-Nguesso, acting president of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL).
Besides the President, João Lourenço, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and second Vice President of the African Union, Félix Tshisekedi, as well as John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, current president of SADC (Southern African Development Community), should also attend this high-level meeting.
According to the separatists, the summit should result in the adoption of a resolution calling for dialogue between the Angolan government and FLEC-FAC.
The independents have accused the Angolan armed forces of causing several deaths among civilians in the border region of that geographically separated province of Angola and denounced "hostile maneuvers by the Angolan government against the Cabindan refugees in the Congos.
Lusa has questioned the Angolan Ministry of Defense with FLEC-FAC allegations without ever obtaining confirmation regarding the confrontations and casualties of the Angolan armed forces.
Cabinda province, where most of the country's oil reserves are concentrated, is not contiguous with the rest of the territory and for many years local leaders have been advocating independence, claiming an autonomous colonial history of Luanda.
FLEC, through its "armed arm," the FAC, fights for independence in that province, claiming that the enclave was a Portuguese protectorate, as established in the Treaty of Simulambuco, signed in 1885, and not an integral part of Angolan territory.
Cabinda is bounded 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.
