2023-11-06 16:20:45
The attack on the village of Egbekaw in southwest Cameroon by English-speaking separatists on the night of Sunday to Monday left at least 20 dead, including women and children. Seven people were seriously injured and around ten houses burned according to state media.
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Around twenty people, including women and children, were killed on Monday November 6 in a new attack on a village by English-speaking separatists in western Cameroon, where these rebels and the army have clashed for seven years , affirmed the government.
The tragedy took place at night in the village of Egbekaw (South-West region). “We had men, women and children, more than twenty killed, it’s unacceptable!” Victor Arrey-Nkongho, minister responsible for the presidency, declared on public radio Mengot of the Republic.
Since the end of 2016, a deadly conflict has pitted armed independence groups once morest security forces, each accused of crimes once morest civilians by international NGOs and the UN, in the North-West and South-West regions, populated mainly by the English-speaking minority in this predominantly French-speaking Central African country.
In the middle of the night, “the terrorists” attacked “using firearms and traditional weapons, there were around twenty dead and seven seriously injured, around ten houses burned”, detailed to the public radio Viang Mekala, the prefect of the Manyu department where Egbekaw is located.
State media attributed the attack to separatist rebels routinely called “terrorists” by authorities.
Houses burned overnight
“It happened at 4:00 a.m. Armed young people came and shot residents sleeping in their houses and set fire to an entire block of houses,” a local man told AFP by telephone. resident of the village who requested anonymity for security reasons.
“We have already pulled 23 people out of the rubble, some of whom are not even recognizable because of the fire,” he continued.
“We can think that it is linked to November 6, the anniversary of President Paul Biya’s accession to power”, estimates this resident, who adds: “a meeting of the RDPC (Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People, the all-powerful presidential party, Editor’s note) was planned in the surrounding area,” he says.
Cameroon, populated by nearly 30 million inhabitants, has been ruled with an iron fist for 41 years to the day by President Paul Biya, aged 90.
Civilians targeted
The rebels, who call themselves the “Ambazonians” (from the name of an “Ambazonia” whose independence they unilaterally proclaimed in 2017), frequently attack civilians whom they accuse of “collaborating” with Yaoundé.
The security forces are also regularly accused by international NGOs and the UN of “blunders”, killings and other torture of civilians they suspect of sympathizing with the rebels.
On October 4, two villagers were publicly executed in the market of the village of Guzang, in the North-West, by a group who accused them of informing the army.
The rebels also carry out kidnappings of civilians accused, or not, of “collaboration”, and which are resolved in most cases by the payment of ransoms.
Members of security forces accused of crimes
At the beginning of July, Amnesty International was once once more alarmed by “atrocities” suffered by civilians, listing “extrajudicial executions”, “homicides”, including of women and children, “torture” and “rape”, perpetrated by armed separatists as well as by members of the security forces.
The populations continue to be caught in a vice between the different parties which clash in the English-speaking regions of the #Cameroon.
The recurring atrocities committed must be stopped and investigated.Read our new report: pic.twitter.com/WuGa8K9ktf
— Amnesty West & Central Africa (@AmnestyWARO) July 4, 2023
The conflict broke out at the end of 2016 following Paul Biya violently repressed peaceful demonstrations by English-speakers in the two regions, who felt ostracized and marginalized by the central power in this former French colony. Since then, the intractable head of state has sent troops there massively.
The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and forced more than a million people to flee, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
With AFP
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