12, April 2024
Southern Cameroons Crisis: 6 killed in military offensive in Bui Division 0
At least six people, including a soldier and five separatists, have lost their lives following a Cameroonian military raid on a locality in the war-torn North West region, local and security sources said Thursday.
The raid occurred on Wednesday night in Bamfem, situated in the Bui division. Government forces launched a coordinated assault on a separatist hideout, leading to clashes with separatist fighters, said a military official in the region.
“During the clashes, our forces killed five terrorist separatists, but unfortunately, we also lost one soldier. Several of the separatists managed to flee with gunshot wounds,” said the official, who requested anonymity when speaking to the press.
Separatist leaders, however, claimed on social media that all the individuals killed were civilians, asserting that none of their fighters were harmed during the clashes.
Cameroonian forces are escalating operations in the two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest as the Central African country prepares for presidential elections next year. Since 2017, separatists in these regions have been in conflict with government forces, aiming to establish an independent nation.
Source: Xinhuanet
15, April 2024
Southern Cameroons Crisis: 2 teachers abducted in the North West 0
Two teachers were kidnapped early Monday in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.
Schools in Southern Cameroons resumed classes Monday for the last term of the academic year after a two-week holiday. The teachers were on their way to school when gunmen, identified by locals as separatist fighters, ambushed and abducted them in the region’s Njap village.
“They (gunmen) took them (teachers) into the bush. They also torched about 13 commercial motorcycles that were carrying passengers,” a local official, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said.
The army said a search and rescue operation for the teachers was underway in the area.
Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.
Teachers and students are regularly abducted in the region, where separatists have warned government schools not to operate.
Source: Xinhuanet