Cameroon: Separatist Fighters kill two gendarmes, kidnap one ahead of National Unity Day

Ambazonia separatist fighters have killed two gendarmerie officers working in Tombel, Kupe Muanenguba Division of Cameroon’s South West Region, during an ambush this morning.

A source told MMI that the fighters also abducted a gendarme officer — when they attacked a military checkpoint where soldiers were keeping watch.

A source who spoke to MMI said the Amba Boys “came in this morning, opened fired on the military who were on control at a checkpoint, shot two of them who died on the spot, and then took one away”.

He said a civilian was unfortunately shot in the leg during gun exchange between soldiers and the Separatist.

Soldiers caught offguard

Our source said the Separatist fighters have made other moves in Kupe Muanenguba this week, with the aim to reinforce Monday lockdowns, which have become a norm in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon since 2017.

On Monday, May 15, the separatists surfaced along the Ngusi – Nyassosso road in Kupe Muanenguba where they reporyedly stopped bike riders and fined them for flouting the separatist-imposed Monday lockdowns.

“Soldiers are in Nyassosso and Ngusi, but none of them dared to come out,” our source said.

He added that the attack on the military checkpoint this Thursday morning happened despite frequent patrols by soldiers around villages in Kupe Muanenguba.

“So this morning they came to Tombel, but meanwhile we have information that soldiers are everywhere in the bush tracking them,” he said.

“It surprises us that those guys came in and still managed to kill two soldiers, with the civilian that has a gunshot on the leg, and the took one gendarme man away.”

Attack comes two days to National Day

The attack comes in the wake of preparations for the celebration of the National Day on May 20.

In Buea, the Regional Capital of the South-west, military and police officers have been rehearsing National Day parades.

The day, which celebrates the unity of the French and English-speaking Cameroons, will only be celebrated partially in the Anglophone Regions, due to Separatist threats and calls for boycott.

The attack on Tombel is seen as one of the strategies being used by the Separatist to scare people from turning out at the celebrations.

Our source told MMI the attack has left many afraid, panicky and uncertain about what might come next.

By David Atangana