By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Mimi Mefo Info (Editor)
Published on 2024-02-08 23:33:23
Cameroonian soldiers have reportedly killed three men and a woman in Kumbo, a town in the country’s North West Region, where armed conflict has been ongoing for nearly seven years. The civilians were ambushed at a checkpoint set up by Ambazonia separatist fighters in a locality called Kiyan, on Wednesday, February 7.
Soldiers took cover near the building used as a checkpoint by separatists and opened fire on the civilians who had come to resolve a land dispute. Separatist fighters were not present at the time of the shooting. The victims included a man named Linus, his relative Michelle, a local bricklayer known as Paparuti, and a man named Musa.
Linus and Michelle had a land dispute which they reported to the separatists. The military took cover near the building where the matter was going to be addressed, and opened fire when Linus and Michelle arrived, killing them both. Two other civilians in the vicinity were also caught in the gunfire.
The incident adds to a series of civilian deaths in the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon this year, as the Anglophone Crisis shows no signs of coming to an end. The day after the incident, separatist fighters in Kumbo attacked the military at Kishong village, killing two soldiers.
There has been no official information from Cameroonian authorities regarding the recent events in Kumbo. The town is home to powerful separatist groups, part of a network of fighters across the North West and South pushing for independence.
The armed struggle and frequent clashes with the Cameroon military have resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and hundreds of thousands displaced since 2017.
Read the original article(French) on Mimi Mefo Info
