Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Africanews
Published on 2024-01-31 14:53:24
The city of Buea in western Cameroon was rocked by an attack attributed to separatists, with at least one person reported dead. On the night of January 30, heavy gunfire was heard in Buea, the capital of the South-West region.
Videos circulated on social media showing armed men carrying out the attack and justifying it by claiming that the population did not obey their “ghost town” order.
According to private Cameroonian media outlet Canal 2, the fighters first attacked armed forces on patrol near a market in Buea, then targeted civilians and burned cars.
Atleast one person has been confirmed dead and several others injured in the attack. Bernard Okalia, the governor of the South-West region, stated that calm had returned to Buea on January 31.
The Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 6,000 civilians had been killed by both government forces and armed separatist fighters in the North-West and South-West regions since late 2016.
The residents of Cameroon’s South-West and North-West regions have been suffering at the hands of separatist fighters for 7 years, with armed groups carrying out attacks, kidnappings, and killings, forcing thousands to flee and seek refuge in other regions.
The insurgency began as a result of civilian protests calling for greater representation for the English-speaking minority in a predominantly Francophone country, which were violently repressed by the Cameroonian military.
A report by Amnesty International revealed that security forces, separatist rebels, and ethnic militiamen had committed “atrocities” in Cameroon’s North-West region.
The situation in the North-West and South-West regions has led to a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of people displaced and an ongoing cycle of violence and instability.
The sources for this information include Canal 2, Actu Cameroun, and RFI. The situation in western Cameroon remains tense, with ongoing violence and unrest affecting the lives of civilians in the region.
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