Frente de Libertacao do Enclave de Cabinda, or Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (FLEC). Factions include FLEC-R, or FLEC-Renewed (Renovada), and FLEC-FAC, or FLEC-Cabinda Armed Forces (Forcas Armadas Cabindesas).

Most FLEC activity takes place in Angola, in the noncontiguous province of Cabinda. Within Cabinda, FLEC is strongest in the northeast, around Buco, Zau, Belize and Minconje.

FLEC and its factions call for greater autonomy for the Cabinda region of Angola. Some factions want a larger share of oil resources in the region, while others seek outright independence.

FLEC groups may count upon as many as 5,000 supporters, while armed fighters are estimated at about 2,000.

FLEC-FAC and FLEC-R operate political organizations in France and Gabon, respectively. Kidnapping and the ransoming of hostages, especially of Portuguese expatriates and those working in the oil industry, are routine methods of raising funds.
 
The FLEC had limited ties to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). FLEC also established bases in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and received arms from Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko until he was overthrown in a war in 1997. When Republic of Congo leader Pascal Lissouba was driven from Brazzaville in 1997, that eliminated another source of weaponry for FLEC.

The FLEC is responsible for kidnapping foreigners, attacking energy infrastructure and other acts of sabotage. Portuguese are often a FLEC target. The group blames Lisbon for failing to grant Cabindan independence prior to the end of colonial rule.

In 1956, the Portuguese government established a single administrative region for colonial governance of Angola and Cabinda, effectively uniting the two regions. In 1959, some Cabindans began calling for self-rule under the Portuguese.
 
The group was officially founded in 1963 by Luis Ranque Franque, who brought together three groups: the Mouvement de Liberation de l'Enclave du Cabinda (MLEC), Comite d'Action Nationale des Canindais (CAUNC) and Alliance du Mayombe (ALLIAMA).
 
FLEC subsequently split into several large factions (FLEC-R and FLEC-FAC), as well as several smaller groups.
 
In 1975, Portugal transferred control of Angola to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The Alvor Agreement, which arranged this transfer of authority, called Cabinda an "integral" part of Angolan territory. The Angolan military moved quickly, with support from Cuba and the Soviet Union, to seize control of the region and its valuable energy assets.
 
Significant fighting took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with FLEC conducting regular attacks against Cuban troops in the region. However, despite aid from neighboring rulers in Zaire and the Republic of Congo, the FLEC could not match Angolan and Cuban military forces. By 1985, the Cabindan group -- riven with internal fractures -- agreed to a cease-fire and began peace negotiations.
 
FLEC is primarily a nationalist group, with many Roman Catholics and a significant number of Unification Church members. Bem-Aventurado de Jesus Kapita is the secretary-general of the FLEC. He is also a spokesman for the Cabinda Forum for Dialogue (FCD). Important individuals in the FLEC-R faction include Secretary-General Artur Tchibassa, the group's founder, and current head Antonio Bento-Bembe.
 
N'zita Tiago heads the FLEC-FAC, though he has spent considerable time exiled in France. Gen. Francisco Luemba served as chief of staff and Estanislau Boma filled the post of defense minister. By June of 2003, Luemba and half a dozen other top FLEC-FAC leaders had surrendered to Angolan authorities.
 
The front stepped up its attacks and abductions of foreign workers in the late 1990s, even though a separate group -- the Cabinda Democratic Front -- renounced violence in 1996.
 
In March of 2001, FLEC threatened to expand its attacks as far away as Europe. The overseas offensive failed to materialize. The abduction of five Portuguese workers in March resulted in a renewed Angolan military campaign, backed by assistance from Lisbon.
 
When the Angolan government wrapped up its successful campaign against UNITA in April of 2002 with a peace accord, the Cabinda independence factions lost a significant source of support in the north. This allowed the government to redirect significant military assets -- some 30,000 troops -- against FLEC.
 
Weaponry among FLEC fighters is limited to rifles, pistols, some mines and perhaps a supply of 81-mm mortars. Angolan armed forces conducted an offensive against the front from 2002-2003, further limiting FLEC's capacity. The September 2002 assault by government forces was concentrated in northern Belize and the Mayombe rain forest.
 
The offensive showed results almost immediately. In November of 2002, the government claimed the capture of several FLEC leaders and the group's headquarters. In the spring of 2003, many top FLEC leaders surrendered.
 
Given these setbacks, various FLEC factions met in France and Gabon to form a coalition, but their leaders failed to reach a compromise.

The Angolan government cracked down on the group following a January 2010 attack on the Togolese soccer team. Informal settlement talks took place in the first half of 2010.

1959
Cabinda-based independence movements gained strength and attempted to end Portuguese rule.

1963
FLEC was founded by Luis Ranque Franque. This united the Mouvement de Liberation de l'Enclave du Cabinda (MLEC), Comite d'Action Nationale des Canindais (CAUNC) and Alliance du Mayombe (ALLIAMA).
 
1967
FLEC formed a government in exile in Zaire (later known as the Democratic Republic of Congo).
 
1975
Portugal transferred control of Angola to the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The transfer was conducted according to the Alvor Agreement, which included Cabinda as part of Angolan territory.
 
N'zita Tiago split with Franque to form the FLEC-FAC.
 
1983
The MPLA agreed to an amnesty for insurgents and 8,000 refugees returned to the Cabinda enclave.
 
1985
Cuban support for the Angolan government helped to force FLEC to the negotiating table.
 
1989
The FLEC-R faction was founded.
 
1990
April 27: FLEC guerrillas operating in the Congo abducted 13 French nationals and 10 Congolese employed by the ELF oil company.
 
1991
Elections were held in Angola. FLEC called for a boycott; only around 12 percent of Cabinda residents voted.
 
1997
January: FLEC-R launched mortars at Sonangol oil facilities.

February: FLEC-FAC promised to widen attacks against Western companies operating in Cabinda.
 
July: Fighting picked up in Cabinda. By October, some 40,000 government troops were deployed to the region.
 
1998
Fighting in the DRC allowed the FLEC-FAC to take control of border areas in Cabinda, but by September Angolan government forces had captured the faction's Necuto headquarters.
 
2001
Aug. 11: FLEC-R attacked an Angolan military barracks in Chibodo, several miles from Cabinda's provincial capital Tchiowa. A fuel tanker outside the barracks exploded at the time of attack, resulting in ancillary explosions of artillery munitions at the military facility.
 
October: Long-time FLEC-R leader Jose Tiburcio said he was abandoning his armed struggle against Angola.
 
2002
July: FLEC claimed to have killed nine Angolan soldiers near Porto Rico.
 
September: FLEC reported killing 12 Angolan soldiers near Sao Vicente.
 
November: The government announced the capture of several FLEC leaders and the group's headquarters.
 
2003
June 8: Six top FLEC leaders surrendered to the government.
 
2005
June: Antonio Bento-Bembe was arrested in the Netherlands following an extradition request from the United States. The U.S. government wanted to try Bembe in connection with the 1990 kidnapping of a Chevron employee. Bembe apparently skipped bail in November 2005 and returned to Angola.
 
2006
February: N'zita Tiago issued a decree removing Bembe from the presidency of the FCD; FLEC's general secretariat, chaired by Bembe, rejected the decree.
 
July: A faction of FLEC struck a cease-fire deal with the Angolan military through the efforts of Bembe. However, other factions of FLEC refused to recognize it.
 
August: Again through Bembe's efforts, a faction of FLEC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Angolan government that could give the Cabinda region a larger slice of taxes and duties from the oil sector. While granting more autonomy to the region, the Angolan government did not cede control of Cabinda. Sporadic fighting continued between other FLEC factions and the Angolan military.
 
October: In response to the continued fighting, FLEC-FAC requested an intervention by the African Union's Commission on Human and People's Rights.
 
2007
June 13: Perhaps anticipating better relations between FLEC groups and the Angolan government, the Australian oil company Roc Oil announced that it would invest $54 million in onshore oil exploration in Cabinda.
 
2008
March 3: Three Angolan soldiers were killed and a civilian wounded in Cabinda. FLEC claimed responsibility for the attack.
 
Oct. 9: The Angolan army maintained that Cabinda province was then largely under its control; insurgent groups, including FLEC, were said to have been "neutralized."

2009
June: Human Rights Watch issued a report charging the Angolan government with unwarranted human-rights violations involving the detention and torture of suspected militants. The report accused security forces of conducting arbitrary arrests in Cabinda in a crackdown aimed at insurgents associated with FLEC.

November: A Chinese oil worker prospecting for Sonangol, the state oil company, was abducted by FLEC.

December: A former FLEC member declared that the group had disbanded, saying that only a few members of the organization were still trying to carry on its activities.

2010
January 8: FLEC claimed responsibility for a machine-gun attack on the Togolese soccer team in Cabinda. Two people were killed and nine others were injured in the attack. A FLEC leader in Paris warned that attacks against the government of Angola would continue. Togo's team was mistaken for Angola's, according to the militants.

July 9: Two exiled FLEC leaders called for an end to violence and offered to begin a dialogue with the Angolan government, saying the armed campaign was no longer viable. The government said it welcomed the offer. Angolan Cabinet minister Antonio Bento Bembe said that informal contacts with the group were underway.