Armed fighters have stormed a town in south west Cameroon close to the training base used by the Mali and Gambia teams at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Mali team has suspended training prior to their match against Tunisia in nearby Limbe this afternoon, according to the Cameroon News Agency. Mali are due to play Tunisia in the opening game of Group F at the Afcon, this afternoon [Wednesday].

Brighton’s Yves Bissouma and Southampton’s Moussa Djenepo both play for Mali and Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri, Arsenal’s Omar Rekik and Nottingham Forest’s Mohamed Drager are part of the Tunisia squad.

Two people are reported to have died following an exchange of gunfire between separatists and government forces at the central market in the town of Buea and five people have been injured, say local reports.

The west of Cameroon has been racked by an escalating conflict between the local English-speaking population and the government of the largely French-speaking country.

Sportsmail reported last month how the tournament mascot, Mola the Lion, was forced to wear a bullet proof vest and was escorted by heavily armed soldiers when he visited the region to promote the competition.

Armoured vehicles and heavily manned army checkpoints have been prominent in the town in recent weeks, with security checks on entry points to nearby Limbe.

‘The Malian team has suspended training and left the Molyko stadium,’ the Cameroon News Agency, reported today.

Separatists, who have objected to hosting games in the west of the country – an area they call Ambazonia – have threatened violence. They have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

One of the host cities, Limbe, is within the westernregion and just 13 miles from Buea.

‘Two civilians (men) have been found dead at the Buea Central market following exchanges of gunshots between Ambazonia and government forces,’ the local news agency added.

In a video posted online, armed men can be seen moving through the streets and there appears to be audible gunfire.

Source: DailyMail

Three Algerian journalists covering the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon (AFCON) have been robbed and stabbed by unknown assailants.

The journalists, moving together as a team with other colleagues, were attacked on Sunday night when they were leaving their hotel in Douala.

Items carted away included a bag containing money, a phone, and a computer.

According to an Algeria news outlet, one of the three journalists that sustained stab wound is a special envoy of Algeria Press Service (APS).

“CAF is aware of an alleged incident involving three Algerian journalists in Douala, Cameroon on Sunday night, 09 January 2022.

“CAF is liaising with local government authorities to understand the details of the incident as this is now a police investigation.

“We are also reaching out to the three journalists and wish them speedy recovery. For now, we will await a detailed report of what transpired.

“The safety of each and every individual attending the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations is a priority for CAF and also our partners, the Cameroon government,” the medium stated.

Source: Sahara Reporters

Armed Cameroon government army soldiers visited the home of Senator Kemende Henry in Bamenda early yesterday, the Southern Cameroons political elite spent months of self-imposed exile in Yaounde calling for an end to the war and upon returning home maintained a kind of deliberate silence, according to three acolytes of the senator.

But after anti-French Cameroun sentiments erupted in Bamenda this week against the Africa Cup of Nations, unidentified gunmen believed by Southern Cameroons activists to be working on behalf of the Biya Francophone regime in Yaounde shot dead the senator at Mile II Nkwen, Bamenda III Sub Division.

“It is a message. No matter who you are, how peacefully you object – if you go out and criticize the 88-year-old President Biya, you’ll be killed,” said one of Senator Kemende’s friends, who sued for anonymity for fear of reprisal from Cameroon government troops.

Cameroon Intelligence Report interviews with three senior Anglophone officials in Bamenda and six pro Yaounde CPDM militants depict a pattern of mass arrests, intimidation and torture, and in many cases targeted killings of Southern Cameroonians by soldiers loyal to the Biya Beti Ewondo regime in Yaounde.

Southern Cameroonians still serving the Francophone dominated Biya government including the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji are all viewed as corrupt and Southern Cameroonians now say federalism alone will not provide a long lasting solution for the English speaking people of Ambazonia.

Several  Southern Cameroons activists have been shot dead recently in Bamenda, Buea and Limbe in what appear to be targeted assassinations, according to local human rights groups and the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima. Dabney Yerima said Ambazonia Intelligence hinted him that Cameroon government soldiers were behind the deaths because those killed had been openly critical of the Africa Cup of Nations and had also received threats based on their anti French Cameroun activism.

In a statement released by the Southern Cameroons Department of Foreign Affairs, the Ambazonia Interim Government stated that the killing of Senator Kemende Henry amounts to what they view as a campaign intended to silence Ambazonia Ground Zero leaders and causing them to abandon the struggle or consider fleeing the country.

The Biya regime’s declaration of war on English-speaking citizens following the killing of some four gendarme officers in Agborkem German in the country’s Southwest region some five years ago, will go down in history as a faux pas which will haunt the country for a very long time. Thousands have been killed and maimed in a war very much driven by arrogance and ego, and many families will be entering the new year with a lot of pain in their minds.

The war itself was avoidable. There was no justification for a full-blown armed conflict in a country that is still at grips with massive and complicated development issues. Cameroon needs all its citizens to come together to give the country a shot in the arm, but the government does not seem to see things this way. 

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Authorities in Cameroon authorities say at least 25,000 villagers in the northeast who fled communal fighting to neighboring Chad last month have returned. But hundreds were left homeless by the fighting between ranchers and fishers, and more than 75,000 are reluctant to go home.

Cameroon’s ministry of territorial administration says at least 25,000 civilians who fled intercommunal violence along its northern border to Chad have returned home.

A statement read on Cameroon state radio CRTV on Monday said the civilians are returning because the area is once again peaceful.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North Region, Midjiyawa Bakari, said a December peace mission to convince armed men to drop their weapons was a success.

He spoke to VOA via messaging application from Maroua, the capital of the Far North Region.

Bakari said thousands of civilians who fled to Chad because of the intercommunal violence between Arab Chao and ethnic Mousgoum have been returning to Cameroon each week since December 16. He said the returnees are responding to Cameroon President Paul Biya’s appeal for them to return home, seek peace, and develop their communities.

But Bakari said several hundred returnees were left homeless because their houses were torched in the conflict.

Authorities say clashes between ranchers and fishers over water and land erupted along the border on December 7, leaving at least 10 people dead and scores wounded.

The U.N. says the violence between the two communities pushed at least 102,000 civilians to flee to neighboring Chad.

Among the civilians who escaped to Chad is 41-year-old mother of two Anne Djigoue.

She told CRTV she returned from the Chadian capital N’djamena on January 2 when envoys sent by Cameroon’s government convinced her it was safe.

Djigoue said fighting between Arab Choua ranchers and ethnic Mousgoum fishers has brought agony to both communities. She said a few returnees are privileged to live in tent houses while a majority sleep in the open air. She said all of them need houses, water, and food.

Cameroonian authorities say many of those left homeless were able to stay with relatives or in village mosques or churches.

Mounouna Foutsou is minister of youth affairs and civic education in Mayo Danay on Cameroon’s border with Chad.

He said some of the returnees are seeking help.

Foutsou said as community leader in Mayo Danay, he has an obligation to plead with citizens living in Cameroon’s northern border to help their brothers and sisters returning from Chad. He said people who are not affected by the clashes should share their lodging, food, and water with returning civilians whose houses or farms were torched during the conflict.

Cameroonian authorities say they have rebuilt three markets that were torched in the conflict and are supplying food, seeds, and mattresses to resettle people affected by the clashes.

But community leaders say over 75,000 of the villagers who fled to Chad are still reluctant to return.

The Cameroon Civil Society Organization says it will be difficult to convince many of those who fled to return without the government reconstructing homes and plantations that were destroyed.

Source: VOA