Anglophone Crisis: Two killed, one injured in Separatist attack in Buea

Two civilians were shot dead and one other injured this morning after armed men believed to have been Ambazonia separatist fighters attacked a private vehicle around Mile 15, Buea.

The two people who died were identified as Kum Louis and Bernard, both residents of Muea, Buea. MMI could not immediately obtain the identity of the injured victim.

Reports say they were attacked on their way back from the Douala International Airport, where they had gone to escort a friend. Separatist fighters are reported to have attacked and shot them for violating an ongoing lockdown imposed on the two English-speaking Regions.

“They were driving from Douala this morning when their vehicle came under attack by armed separatists who fired live bullets at the vehicle around Mile 15 in Buea, Southwest region of Cameroon,” a source told MMI.

Two people died on the spot while one sustained injuries and was rushed to the hospital.

The attack comes one week after Ambazonia separatists attacked and killed three civilians in Muea, Buea, for violating their lockdown calls. Several civilians have been killed in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon since separatist fighters started enforcing a two-week lockdown in the two Regions last week.

The separatists claimed responsibility for some of these attacks.

One in a series!

On Tuesday, September 5, a separatist group in Lebialem Division, in the South West Region, blew off a military truck in Alou, killing a civilian and some soldiers.

A day later, another group of fighters stormed Muea, Buea, killed three civilians, and burned two vehicles. They also claimed responsibility for the attack, which has been widely condemned.

That same week, a woman was shot dead in a crossfire between Ambazonia fighters and the military in Muyuka. Another gun battle between the warring parties left a schoolgirl dead in Kumba last week.

Meanwhile, an explosive in the coastal city of Limbe in the South West killed a bike rider and injured about 10 people on the night of Friday, September 8.

Violent attacks and rampant killings are multiplying in the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon amid calls from local and international quarters for the Cameroon Government to dialogue with separatists for a peaceful settlement of the crisis.

Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced since a lawyer-teacher strike that started in 2016 turned into an armed separatist conflict in 2017.