CAMEROON: Seven killed, several injured as crackdown on Anglophone protesters continue

A rally by protesters in the Anglophone region of Cameroon demonstrating against the ill treatment and neglect by the predominantly Francophone government of President Paul Biya, turned bloody with soldiers killing seven people and injuring a dozen others.

Authorities in Cameroon had earlier launched a crackdown in the regions’ main cities, Buea and Bamenda, to silence the demonstrators as military helicopters circled overhead and the (BIR), a unit that typically fights Islamist Boko Haram militants in the country’s north unleashed.

Donatus Njong Fonyuy, mayor of the town of Kumbo, said five prisoners were killed at around 6am local time (05:00 GMT) after the jail where they were being held caught fire.

Read also: CAMEROON: Crackdown on Anglophone region as army, police move in to silence protesters

“We don’t know what caused the fire in the prison … But five prisoners were killed by soldiers. Two were wounded by bullets and are at the hospital,” he told Reuters news agency, adding that another two civilians were also injured.

In other incidents in Kumbo, soldiers shot and wounded two demonstrators around midday who had raised the blue and white flag of the Ambazonia separatist movement in the town.

Another was killed later attempting to do the same at the local chief’s palace.

The demonstrations – timed to take place on the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon’s independence from Britain – came as a months-old movement against perceived marginalisation by the Francophone-dominated government gathered pace.

The protests, which began late last year, have become a lightning rod for opposition to President Paul Biya’s 35-year rule.

 

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