Cameroon: ruling party senator kidnapped in late April has been released
The senator had been kidnapped in the city of Bamenda, in English-speaking Cameroon.
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In Cameroon, the army announces on Monday that it released the senator kidnapped a month ago by separatists in the North West region.
Elizabeth Regina Mundi was kidnapped in Bamenda on April 30.
The release of the Senator took place after a military operation in Ashong, in the department of Momo.
His captors demanded an exchange of prisoners and threatened to execute him.
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The operation that led to the release of
Senator Elizabeth Regina Mundi
was launched on Sunday morning.
It was a question of getting closer to the place where the senator was held, according to the Cameroonian army.
The statement from the Ministry of Defense speaks of a "
refuge
" of "
heavily armed terrorists
" who would have "
opened heavy fire
" on Monday evening "
to stop the progress
" of Cameroonian soldiers.
The press release also indicates that the abductors of the senator would then have tried to flee with several hostages.
The Cameroonian ministry affirms that at the end of the operation, in addition to the senator, other people were released, without indicating their number and their identity.
He also mentions the capture of three combatants qualified as terrorists, the death of a dozen others and the seizure of war material.
A version disputed by one of the military leaders of the Ambozian Defense Forces group who had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Elizabeth Regina Mundi.
Capo Daniel claims that it was out of "
compassion and clemency
" that the senator was "
left on the way
" during a "
strategic withdrawal
" so that the Cameroonian soldiers could find her.
Just like the equipment "
voluntarily abandoned
" by the separatists, who continue to claim the independence of
the former British Cameroon
and threaten reprisals to the inhabitants who collaborate with the Cameroonian forces.
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