At least four armed separatists were killed in Cameroon’s war-torn region of Southwest on Sunday when government troops fought off a rebel ambush, the army said.

Several separatist gunmen were also injured when government troops repelled the ambush targeting a military convoy in Otou, a locality near the border with Nigeria, the army said.

Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, it said.

Last week, armed separatists announced on social media that they had decided to block the main road that links Nigeria and Cameroon in the region and threatened to attack soldiers and civilians that try to get through.

Since 2017, government forces have been fighting armed separatists in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest.

Source: Xinhuanet

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima has strongly condemned the continued detention of thousands of Southern Cameroonians in French Cameroun jails saying those who celebrated the so-called Special Status and are marketing the one and indivisible Cameroun slogan should be ashamed after the massive 20^th May boycotts.

Vice President Dabney Yerima made the remarks in a conversation with Cameroon Concord News Group on Sunday in which he also stated that for over five years now, the people of Southern Cameroons have been witnesses to Biya French Cameroun crimes in their homeland.

Dabney Yerima told Cameroon Concord News Group editors and correspondents that “The first to be ashamed by this massive 20^th May boycotts are all those Southern Cameroons CPDM officials who do not even have the courage to question Yaoundé on the whereabouts of their so-called Special Status. The first to feel shame and disgrace are the Southern Cameroons CPDM elites. Those who try to convince Ambazonians that the existence of the one and indivisible Cameroun is natural and Southern Cameroonians should live with it.”

Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero recently boycotted the French Cameroun teleguided national day celebration.

Media reports said Cameroon government forces staged military parades in regional and divisional headquarters avoiding the rural areas that are under the control of Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards.

By Isong Asu

Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards, the military wing of the Ambazonia Interim Government, say they are getting ready to battle the Biya French Cameroun regime across all Southern Cameroons towns and villages and will continue to resist until freeing the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.

In a statement thanking Southern Cameroonians in Ground Zero for a massive boycott of the so-called National Day Celebration, Vice President Dabney Yerima said that even after the abduction of the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and his top aides, the Ambazonia resistance has become stronger and more equipped and is ready to fend off any French Cameroun military action inside the Ambazonian homeland.

Yerima stated that Amba fighters will in the weeks ahead launch an operation that will overwhelm the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé. The Yerima statement added that Yaoundé will be shocked by the unprecedented Amba attacks.

The statement said Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards are prepared for any sacrifice and fight against the French Cameroun enemy all over Southern Cameroons.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameron’s National Day on May 20 has been marked by running battles between government troops and separatists who imposed a lockdown, crippling business in English-speaking western regions. The military says at least 28 separatists who vowed to disrupt celebrations in English-speaking regions of the majority francophone nation were killed in violent battles. President Paul Biya is attending commemorations.

Cameroon’s military sings at a ceremony to commemorate May 20 in the capital, Yaounde, pledging loyalty to state institutions and expressing the readiness of troops to defend the country’s territorial integrity.

The government said the parade marking Cameroon’s 50th National Day was attended by at least 30,000 civilians, led by President Paul Biya. The government said it reduced the time for the military parade to 45 minutes for strategic reasons.

However, opposition political parties, including the Social Democratic Front, said the ailing 89-year-old Biya could not stand up for two hours to honor the military during its parade, as has been the tradition in Cameroon.

The government said the National Day celebration was successful in Cameroon’s French-speaking regions. Separatists said they imposed a lockdown in English-speaking western regions to protest May 20 celebrations, also known as the day of National Unity between the English-speaking minority and the majority French-speaking nation.

The government has denied its troops were transporting French speakers to English-speaking regions. The military says it lost six troops in battles within the past week and that 28 separatists who tried to disrupt May 20 activities were killed in several northwestern towns, including Oku, Kumbo, Bamenda and Nkambe.

Colonel Samuel Tabot Orock is a commander of government troops fighting separatists in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s English speaking North-West region. Orock says the military made sure everyone who came out for celebrations was protected.

“Let the world, and Cameroon in particular, understand that the military in Bamenda know that the secessionist fighters will be doing everything in their powers to disrupt a successful 20th May celebration, that is why we are taking every single measure as far as security is concerned to make sure there is a hitch-free 20th May celebration in Bamenda,” Orock said.

Orock said running battles between government troops and separatists crippled activity in many northwestern towns and villages.

The government said prior to the day at least 35 people separatists suspected of preparing to commemorate the day were abducted by separatists in several towns of the South-West region including Mutengene and Tiko.

Bernard Okalia Bilai, the governor of the South-West region, spoke by telephone from Buea, capital of the region.

Bilai says local administrative authorities and civilians report separatists who abduct and threaten to kill people accused of disrespecting lockdown calls to the military. He says civilians have understood that separatist claims that fighters can create an independent English-speaking state in Cameroon are unfounded.

On May 20, 1972, Cameroon organized what it called a constitutional referendum, during which a majority of its citizens voted to abolish the federal system of government that had existed since 1961 in favor of a unitary state. Separatists say there has been an overbearing influence of French in English-speaking western regions since the 1972 referendum.

By Staff Lady Besong Eunice Nchong