Ayaba Cho Lucas, the leader of the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGoVC), a separatist faction, has claimed his fighters were responsible for the bomb attack that killed three civilians and injured one along the Bali-Batibo road in the North West Region.
A vehicle reportedly carrying four civilians stepped on an improvised explosive device planted on the road around Oshum village, which shattered the car, leaving just one survivor.
Three people including the driver died on the spot while one injured person was rescued by elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR, an elite unit of Cameroon’s defence forces.
In a reaction shortly after the incident, Ayaba Cho Lucas, a separatist leader based in Norway, claimed that the attack targeted the military.
“Today 26-JUNE-2024, a special squad of the Ambazonia Defence Forces struck a convoy of enemy Armour Cars,” he said in a statement.
Ayaba Cho Lucas controls Ambazonia Defense Forces (ADF), an armed wing of the AGoVC said to have carried out the bomb attack on civilians.
Confirming the civilian casualties in the supposed attack against state forces, the Separatist leader said, “There might have been civilian casualties that we suspect were being used as human shields.”
Ayaba Cho has previously claimed his militia’s responsibility for several other incidents against civilians, including the public execution of two civilians in Guzang last year and recent attacks on taxi drivers in Bamenda, North West Region.
