Human Rights Watch has again accused the Cameroonian army of executing civilians during an attack on a separatist base at Mautu in Southern Cameroons.

The attack by the Cameroonian army against the Ambazonia Restoration base occurred on 10 January 2021.

According to Human Rights Watch, 9 civilians were killed in the attack, including a woman and a child and four others were injured.

“Witnesses said the soldiers killed 9 people including a 50-year-old woman and a 6-year-old child. And, that they went from one house to another in search of separatist fighters and weapons, threatening residents and looting their property,” Human Rights Watch said.

On 11 January 2021, Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack, a French Cameroonian army spokesman, said that “terrorists” had fabricated a “jumble of images” to accuse the Cameroonian army of murdering civilians.

According to Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack, the terrorists attacked the soldiers of the 21st Mechanized Infantry Battalion (BIM) while they were conducting a “preventive raid”. The latter retaliated by killing several “terrorists” and seizing their weapons.

This is not the first time that the army is taken to task by the respectable Human Rights Watch.

The NGO whose main task is the defense of human rights regularly accuses the Cameroonian army of abuses against Southern Cameroons civilians.

By Isong Asu

The conflict in Southern Cameroons is still raging and the killing is still going on.

In Mamfe, two soldiers were shot dead by Southern Cameroonian insurgents in Egbekaw, a neighborhood of Mamfe, and these killings have triggered a wave of arson by frustrated Cameroon army soldiers who are unable to find those who have sent their colleagues to an earlier grave.

Mamfe remains a hotspot, especially the Southern Cameroonian president, Julius Ayuk Tabe, a native of Mamfe, is still in the dungeons of East Cameroons.

Similarly, there was also a violent exchange of fire between army soldiers and Southern Cameroonian insurgents in Ediki, a small town some 20 miles from the city of Kumba.

The stand-off lasted some two hours with travelers being unable to travel freely.

More will be yours as our correspondents are gathering more information.

For over fifteen months, French Cameroun authorities have attempted every trick in the book to deceive the world that Southern Cameroons restoration forces are laying down their arms. The corrupt dictatorship illegally occupying Ambazonia, has built three makeshift prisons housing common criminals and paid actors, and termed the facilities, Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration Centre.

The Monday, 1 February 2021 demonstration by alleged ex-Ambazonia separatist fighters in the Buea facility was a major embarrassment for the regime in Yaoundé. The protesters were heard screaming that they were “protesting against their poor living conditions and the unfulfilled promises of the La Republique du Cameroun Government ever since they dropped their arms.”

A Cameroon Concord News Group source on the scene said locals identified about eight of the protestors as burglars that are serving time in the Buea Central Prison. A local resident who elected anonymity furthered “I recognised four burglars who are supposed to be serving time for aggravated burglary since 2013. They have nothing to do with the Ambazonia struggle. They must have been paid by this corrupt government to stage that they live in the DDR centre. It is disgusting and disgraceful.”

As the protest continued, one of the alleged ex-separatist fighters said “the reason for the protest was because we have been suffering for more than a year since we laid down our arms. We have been living in unfavourable housing conditions, poor treatment, no jobs causing some of our wives and partners to leave us.” Another protestor shouted “all of the promises made to us by the government for jobs and employment are unfulfilled and because of this, we have decided to carry on a protest so the government can see in to their problems.”

In a country not known to show civility to protesters, the local population around Bokwango and Long Street in Buea were left suspicious and concerned at the peaceful manner that the government applied to stop the so-called protest. A local resident said “this was a staged protest especially after some on the true identities of the protestors were revealed and we are very worried that they are our new neighbours.”

By Asu Vera Eyera in London with files from Buea

60 Cameroonians will be repatriated from the United States tomorrow Thursday 4 February 2021, a statement from the Ministry of External Relations (Minrex) has revealed. These Cameroonians are presumed to be in an irregular situation in the country.

According to another release from the Cameroon Embassy in the United States, these Cameroonians will arrive in Douala at 13:45 local time on board the Boeing 767-200 of the OMNI AIR International Company, on Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Their reception in Douala will be supervised by several administrative heads including Minrex officials, the embassy press release noted.

In view of the socio-political, security and health context that Cameroon is going through, special arrangements will be made for the said operation, hinted a confidential letter addressed to the Director of Douala International Airport by the Minister of External Relations.

The repatriation operations that started under the Trump administration are continuing under the Biden era.

On 14 October 2020, 57 Cameroonians landed at Douala International Airport from the United States.

These Cameroonians, 45 men and 12 women had been forced to return to Cameroon following a repatriation operation conducted jointly by the two countries.

By Rita Akana