Separatists wearing military uniforms kill 10 civilians in northwestern Cameroon

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Separatists wearing military uniforms killed 10 people and seriously wounded two others in a weekend attack in northwestern Cameroon, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The attack took place in the region’s capital, Bamenda, on Sunday evening by “an armed secessionist gang near a drinking establishment” in Nacho Junction, Bamenda II district, Mezam department in the North West Region, said Atonfack Guemo Cyrille Serge, a navy captain and spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

The assailants were "in a band of about 10, perfidiously dressed in uniforms similar to military outfits and armed with automatic weapons," said the ministry.

They "proceeded to assemble some peaceful citizens before opening heavy and indiscriminate fire on them, also fatally hitting some peacefully seated customers," said Guemo, calling the incident a "terrorist act of unbearable cruelty and barbarity."

The provisional death toll stands at 10 with two seriously wounded, who were evacuated to Bamenda Hospital, while combing operations continue on the ground to track down the assailants.

An investigation has been opened to "shed full light on this terrorist attack, which nothing and no cause can justify," he added.

The North-West and South-West are the two regions with the highest concentration of the English-speaking minority in this bilingual country.

These areas have been in the grip of a separatist crisis since 2016 and have become the scene of violence since Anglophones who feel marginalized by Francophones have been calling for separatism or federalism. The military and separatists blame each other for multiple deadly attacks on civilians.

At least 4,000 people have been killed by both defense and security forces and armed groups since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in October 2016, according to a report published last year by Human Rights Watch (HRW).