22 Killed in Clash in Cameroon Anglophone Region: MP
Twenty-two people were killed in a clash with the army in Cameroon's restive Northwest anglophone region, an opposition MP told AFP today.
Yaound, May 27 (AFP) Twenty-two people were killed in a clash with the army in Cameroon's restive Northwest anglophone region, an opposition MP told AFP today.
"Twenty-two people were killed Friday in Menka during a confrontation... (between the army and) a group of people that were presented as criminals," said Nji Tumasang, a member of the anglophone opposition Social Democratic Front in Santa, the area in which the town of Menka is located.
Violence between armed anglophone separatists and government forces occurs almost daily in the Northwest Region and the Southwest Region, following an escalation of the crisis in late 2016. An army official confirmed the incident, speaking of "several neutralised terrorists".
"A group of terrorists was reported in Menka" and the army intervened to "encircle the hotel" where they were, army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said on Facebook.
But he added that a "watchman alerted (the occupants of the hotel) which gave rise to long exchanges of fire lasting several minutes".
"Several weapons and ammunition had been seized," he added.
Earlier this month, the US ambassador to Cameroon accused government forces of carrying out "targeted killings" and other abuses in the fight against independence-seeking militants.
The presence of a large English-speaking minority -- about a fifth of Cameroon's population of 22 million -- dates back to the colonial period.
It was once a German colony that after World War I was divided between Britain and France.
In 1960, the French colony gained independence, becoming Cameroon, and the following year, the British-ruled Southern Cameroons was amalgamated into it, becoming the Northwest and Southwest Regions.
For years, resentment built among anglophones, fostered by perceived marginalisation in education, the judiciary and the economy at the hands of the French majority.
Demands for greater autonomy were rejected by 85-year-old President Paul Biya, in power for more than 35 years, leading to an escalation that saw the declaration of the self-described "Republic of Ambazonia" in October last year. (AFP) AQS
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