The death toll from the ongoing unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking region has risen to 17, as the government tries to quell a separatist movement, a rights group said. Security forces opened fire on Sunday on protesters calling for the independence of the region of about eight million people.

“In order to avoid further bloodshed, the security forces must cease unnecessary and excessive use of force, and protesters should be peaceful if they want to make their voices heard. The government should investigate these killings,” Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International’s Lake Chad region researcher, said in a statement on Monday.

Internet was blocked in the region for the third day on Tuesday – the second time in less than a year. Earlier this year, the internet was blocked for three months following similar unrest. Electricity was also cut in the area.

“The reported unlawful killing of several people in the Anglophone regions by the security forces coupled with the blocks on Facebook and WhatsApp represent an extremely worrying escalation of the government’s ongoing campaign to silence any form of dissent in the West and South-West regions of Cameroon,” Allegrozzi said.

Analysts have called on the United Nations and the regional bloc, ECOWAS, to intervene in the crisis. “We have seen a government that is not responsive to the demands of the Anglophone,” Hans de Marie Heungoup, Cameroon analyst at International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

“There is a need to strengthen and better coordinate the response of the international community since the beginning of this crisis in October 2016. It is time for the international community to act in a very strong way to avoid irreversible deterioration of the situation on the ground,” Heungoup said.

Late on Monday, the UN urged Yaounde to investigate the death of protesters and to show restraint. “The Secretary-General takes note of the calls by the authorities for dialogue and encourages representatives of the Anglophone community to seize the opportunity in their quest for solutions to the community’s grievances,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general said.

But some Cameroonians said a government-led dialogue would not solve the unrest in the region.

“The government cannot mediate on this crisis when they are the first people responsible for this escalation. They cannot mediate on the crisis they caused,”  Albert Nchinda, a Cameroonian political blogger, told Al Jazeera.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years, condemned the latest unrest and called for calm. “It is not forbidden to voice any concerns in the Republic. However, nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence, and defying authority,” Biya wrote Sunday on his official Facebook.

Cameroon’s English-speaking minority say they are being marginalised by the French-speaking majority. Dissent in the two Anglophone regions – the northwest and southwest parts of the country – has been growing over the past year, with protests taking place intermittently.

Culled from Al Jazeera

As Nigeria celebrated her 57th Independence Day on Sunday Oct. 1, her eastern neighbour Cameroon for the first time in over 30 years also officially marked her 56th year of reunification. However, Cameroonians were deeply divided over the Oct.1 anniversary as the internet was disrupted again in the English-speaking regions and security officials opened fire on Anglophone protesters killing as many as 15 people according to reports.

The killings come after renewed massive resistance against perceived marginalization of English-speaking Cameroon by the majority Francophone-led government.

The crisis stems from the country’s colonial history which created modern Cameroon in an agreement between colonial rulers Britain and France. Former British Cameroons (Southern Cameroons) got its independence on Oct. 1, 1961 by joining already independent (Jan. 1, 1960) La Republique du Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. There were two states—West and East Cameroons—operating under the federal system of government which were later fused on May 20, 1972 to form the United Republic of Cameroon.

But over time, citizens of the country’s English-speaking regions, which account for around 20% of the population, have complained to feeling frustrated in the union as they complain of cultural, economic, social and political deprivation.

The long-lingering crisis took a turn for the worst last week when agitators operating under the aegis of the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Governing Council called for public demonstrations. The mass protests were scheduled to culminate in celebrations on Oct. 1, the day activists had hoped to declare the independence of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia, a country they clamour to create.

Following up on clashes on Sep. 22, protesters again poured out on the streets on Oct. 1 in villages and towns across the North West and South West regions. Their attempts to hoist blue-white flags of Southern Cameroons/Ambazonia as a sign of independence was met with stiff resistance by armed forces who have been deployed to the troubled regions.

Amnesty International confirmed up to 17 people being kill by security forces during protests in some of Cameroon’s Anglophone towns. International and local media reports said security forces opened fire on protesters in Bamenda, Buea and several other towns. The killings took place despite a call for restraint made by the UN secretary general.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 35 years, has yet to return to the country after taking part in the 72nd UN General Assembly in New York last month. He condemned “all acts of violence, regardless of their source and their perpetrators.”

While the troubled regions faced a ban of gatherings of more than four people, restriction of movement and another internet shutdown, demonstrations were organized in other parts of the country to call for unity.

Demonstrators carry banners as they take part in a march voicing their opposition to independence or more autonomy for the Anglophone regions, in Douala.

In the capital city Yaoundé, members of parliament gathered at the Reunification Monument to drum up calls for unity and peaceful coexistence. The celebration which is the first of its kind was largely boycotted by Anglophone opposition MPs.

In Douala, like in Yaoundé, members of the ruling Cameroon’s People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) organized street matches calling for a united Cameroon. The regional organ of the opposition Social Democratic Front party in the economic capital Douala condemned the CPDM outing. The party voiced concerns over the “discriminatory attitude of administrative authorities.”

Source: Quartz Media

Law enforcement authorities have discovered an arsenal of weapons and ammunition from the hotel room and house of the gunman who killed at least 59 people and injured another 527 at a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A total of 42 guns were found in the hotel room and house of 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who rained down a barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel towards an open-air concert Sunday night, police said.

Las Vegas Police Department Assistant Sheriff Todd R. Fasulo said that 23 guns were found in Paddock’s hotel room, and 19 were discovered out of his home in Mesquite.

Among the guns and ammunition police found in the hotel room were high-powered rifles considered capable of penetrating police armor.

Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that Paddock brought in at least 10 suitcases into his hotel room over a period of time.

In the aftermath of the massacre, many wondered how the gunman managed to fire for so long and so quickly to cause such carnage, raising questions whether Paddock had used banned automatic weapons.

However, it later emerged that the shooter had used a modified bump stock rifle, a legal trick that allows a gun to simulate rapid automatic gunfire.

In addition, law enforcement officials found “some explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo, along with some electronic devices” in the shooter’s property.

Authorities are also working to establish the motive behind the massacre.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced that it was “currently conducting an urgent trace on firearms recovered from the scene in Las Vegas.”

Investigators have found no link to international terrorism, despite a claim from the Daesh terrorist group. Some investigators said the gunman might have had psychological issues, but there is no confirmation of this.

Police initially said that they had engaged Paddock but later said they found him dead in the hotel room.

Paddock was described as a gambler who lived in a quiet community of senior citizens and played golf. Officials said he had no criminal history and drew little attention to himself.

The mass shooting has once again thrust the bitter debate over gun control back to the center of politics in Washington.

As horror and disbelief rocked the nation, Congressional Democrats said the massacre underlined the necessity of new firearms laws, while Republicans only offered condolences and prayers.

In a televised address on Monday, President Donald Trump offered his “warmest condolences” for the victims of the mass shooting, but did not address the scourge of gun violence that has become a common occurrence in the country.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that “there will certainly be a time for that policy discussion to take place, but that’s not the place that we’re in at this moment.”

Culled from Presstv

The catalyst that heralded a genocide in Rwanda in 1994 that left more than 800,000 people dead was hate speech against the Tutsi minority spread by Hutu extremists via mass media, radio stations in particular. This has started building up in French Cameroun with a prominent Francophone journalist calling on the Francophone dominated army to carry out an extermination campaign in Southern Cameroons.

Francophone media gurus have reportedly painted Southern Cameroonians as “rats” and “cockroaches” and there has been no strong condemnation from the French Cameroun political elites. Southern Cameroonians are now been depicted as foreigners “ Biafra” who hail from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and therefore have to be eliminated. Radio stations are also being used to preach the so-called French Cameroun supremacy- a real guide to racial hatred.

In his recent message to the French Cameroun army, the renowned Francophone journalist, Thierry Mbouli posted on his Face Book page that the army should seal the Southern Cameroons border with Nigeria and killed everyone including 6 months old babies. He described Southern Cameronians as sheep and pigs not worth any existence. By some strange happenstance, no one within the National Communications Council has raised a finger against the buildup towards a genocide.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, CCN

At least 58 people have been killed and over 500 others injured when a gunman opened fire at a music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

The “nonstop gunfire” sent bystanders outside the resort scrambling for their lives while tourists hid in their hotel rooms. Disturbing footage showed the aftermath as the injured lay on stretchers or on the ground with responders and bystanders trying to provide assistance.

The gunman rained down bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for several minutes before shooting himself dead, according to police. Earlier reports indicated that the gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock from Mesquite, Nevada, had been shot by police.

“Officers responded to that location and engaged the suspect at that location,” Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.

Paddock had more than 10 rifles in his hotel room.

Lombardo said Paddock was not believed to be connected to any militant group.

“We have no idea what his belief system was,” he said. “We’ve located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied.”

However, the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the shooting, according to the group’s news agency. It provided no evidence to back up its claim. The terror organization often claims such incidents.

At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said.

The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, eclipses last year’s massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. The dead included one off-duty police officer. Two officers were also injured.

The Las Vegas Police Department advised people in a statement to stay away from Mandalay Bay Casino on the south end of the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Boulevard and across from McCarran International Airport.

“Confirming that one suspect is down. This is an active investigation. Again, please do not head down to the Strip at this time,” LVMPD said in a tweet.

Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay which was part of a three-day music festival. Witnesses said they thought fireworks were going off as part of the concert.

Special SWAT units were deployed to the scene of the shooting and police shut down the strip.

Gunman and his companion identified

The suspected gunman had reportedly checked in as a hotel guest.

Police released the name of a female companion of the gunman, identified as Mari Lou Danley, 62.

According to authorities, Danley who was being sought as a person of interest has been located.

Witnesses said the gunman opened fire with an initial burst and then appeared to reload as he continued his firing spree.

Police also asked onlookers to avoid sharing “tactical positions” of its officers on the internet out of fear that it would endanger the operation.

Singer Jason Aldean was on stage when the shooting started. And it came towards the end of the concert.

“I guess it was an automatic weapon going off but it literally sounded like firecrackers. Then soon enough there was commotion on the Mandalay Bay side of the stage. They were motioning for medics to come and safety people to come and Jason Aldean ran off the stage,” he said.

“Everybody in the vicinity went down. I don’t know if they were ducking or if they were but it was chaos.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement Monday morning that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the mass shooting.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials,” Sanders said. “All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers.”

Shortly after Sanders’ statement, Trump tweeted, “My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!”

Nevada politicians also responded to the massacre, denouncing the violence and offering thanks to first responders.

“Senseless, horrifying act of violence in Las Vegas tonight,” Republican Senator Dean Heller said in a tweet. “Thankful for police and first-responders on the scene,” Heller said.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican, called the shooting a “tragic” and “heinous act of violence” and offered his prayers for the victims.

Culled from Presstv

France has officially commented on the ongoing political crisis in the Southern Cameroons. Paris called on all parties to exercise restraint and to reject violence.

“France is following the situation in Cameroon carefully and is preoccupied by the incidents that took place over the weekend,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters in a daily online briefing on Monday.

“We call on all the actors to show restraint and reject violence,” she added. The latest round of violence on Sunday resulted in the loss of eight lives as security forces clashed with protesters.
The casualty figure has since been revised as some activists are reporting that fifteen people had so far died from the clashes of October 1 which has extended to today.

Protesters in the Anglophone region – the North West and South West regions – have long complained about marginalization and are seeking to secede from Cameroon. The government, however, insists that the unity of the Central African country remains non-negotiable.

Contrary to an earlier government position, access to some social media platforms were cut on Saturday ahead of the ‘Independence Day’ declaration on October 1. There was heavy security deployment in the said regions.
The United States and United Kingdom have all issued travel alerts advising their nationals against all but essential travel to the Anglophone regions, citing political disturbances and violence.

Source: Africa News