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An insurgent armed group killed 14 people, half of them children, in an attack in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest region on Wednesday, state media reported.
The killings in the village of Guidado come in the wake of a resurgence of violence in a nearly decade-long separatist struggle by the anglophone minority in the central African country, which is majority French-speaking.
“This morning, an attack carried out by a terrorist group against civilians resulted in the deaths of 14 people, among them one man, six women, and seven children aged two to 11,” Northwest Regional Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique told public broadcaster CRTV.
“Fourteen people were evacuated to nearby hospitals in Ndu and Nkambe to receive first aid,” the governor said, adding that longtime President Paul Biya had ordered “measures” to restore security in the region.
The conflict erupted in late 2016 after Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for more than four decades, violently suppressed peaceful protests by English speakers, many of whom feel marginalised in the majority-francophone country.
Armed groups fighting for an independent anglophone Cameroon have frequently kidnapped or killed politicians, civil servants and teachers accused of collaborating with the government.
In turn, the army and police are accused of carrying out punishing raids on people accused of being sympathisers
At least 6,000 civilians have been killed by government forces and separatist fighters since the conflict began, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
