Armed men killed 22 civilians, including 14 children, this Friday in a village in English-speaking Cameroon. The opposition and local NGOs accuse the government and the military, who have been fighting English-speaking secessionist groups for three years, of being responsible for this killing.
"The majority of the victims are women and children," said the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. “At least 22 people were killed, among them 14 children, including 11 girls and nine under the age of 5, a pregnant mother and two women who were carrying their babies. "
Army refutes responsibility
The North West and South West have suffered murderous fighting between the military and armed separatists for three years. These clashes, as well as the atrocities and crimes committed by the two camps, have left more than 3,000 dead and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.
On his Facebook page, Félix Agbor Mballa, president of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (CHRDA), condemned the "horrible murder" committed "by the state defense forces". "All the testimonies accuse the army", launched on Twitter the opponent Edith Kah Walla, presidential candidate in 2011. "False" simply retorted a spokesman for the army, questioned this Sunday
More than tense elections
This new drama affecting the English-speaking minority comes almost a week after the legislative and municipal elections, which had a low turnout, particularly in the two English-speaking provinces. Separatist groups had banned people from voting and promised retaliation to those who tried. The government had dispatched significant military reinforcements.
More than 100 people were abducted in the two regions by rebels in the two weeks before the elections, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The NGO accused the security forces of having committed "new abuses" in the same period. Neither the official results of these elections, nor even the turnout, have been made public by the government to date.
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