Separatist rebels have killed about 10 civilians and wounded two extra in certainly one of Cameroon’s restive anglophone areas, the defence ministry mentioned Monday.
The nation’s primarily English-speaking Northwest and Southwest areas have been gripped by battle since separatists declared independence in 2017 after many years of grievances over perceived discrimination by the francophone majority.
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President Paul Biya, who has dominated the central African nation with an iron fist for 40 years, has resisted requires wider autonomy and responded with a crackdown.
The most recent assault passed off exterior a bar on Sunday night at Bamenda, capital of the Northwest area.
A dozen separatists carrying army-type uniforms and carrying computerized weapons took individuals apart “earlier than opening sustained fireplace at them… and likewise mortally wounding a number of purchasers” seated at tables, mentioned the ministry’s Colonel Cyrille Atonfack.
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Separatist rebels
The authorities have opened an inquiry into the killings, the ministry mentioned, including that operations continued to seek out the assailants.
Violent clashes erupted in Cameroon in late 2016, after which militants calling themselves “Amba Boys” declared an impartial state within the Northwest and Southwest.
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The battle has claimed greater than 6,000 lives and compelled greater than one million individuals to flee their properties, based on the Worldwide Disaster Group.
Each the separatists and authorities forces have been accused of atrocities within the preventing.
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Armed teams are usually accused of abducting, killing or injuring civilians whom they accuse of “collaborating” with Cameroonian authorities.
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© Agence France-Presse
