Cameroon: Attack blamed on separatists leave at least 1 dead in South-West region

At least one person was reported dead after an attack attributed to separatists in western Cameroon shook up the city on Buea.

On Monday night (Jan. 30), heavy gunshot were heard in Buea the capital of the South-West region.

Videos circulated on social media, show armed men carrying out their attack and reportedly justifying it by the fact that the population didn't obey their "ghost town" order.

According to private Cameroonian media Canal 2, the fighters attacked armed forces on patrol near a market in Buea before targeting civilians and burning cars.

At least one person has been confirmed dead and several others are reported to have been injured in the attack.

Speaking to RFI's journalist, Bernard Okalia, the governor of the South-West region said calm returned to Buea on Tuesday (Jan.30).

In January 2023, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 6,000 civilians had been killed by both government forces and armed separatist fighters since late 2016 in the North-West and South-West regions.

Residents of Cameroon's South-West and North-West regions have been suffering at the hands of separatists fighters for 7 years.

The armed groups carry out attacks, kidnappings and killings forcing thousands to flee for their live and displace in other regions.

Insurgents began fighting the Cameroonian military then attacking the population after civilian protests calling for greater representation for the Francophone country's English-speaking minority were violently repressed.

In a report by Amnesty Internal unveiled last July, the rights group said security forces, separatist rebels and ethnic militiamen had committed "atrocities" in Cameroon's North-West region.