Dozens killed in Cameroon's NW Region

ANKARA

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Cameroon's North West Region, several sources said, blaming the army.

"The death toll from the massacre in Ngarbuh-Ntubaw in Cameroon has risen to 32 with some children and pregnant women still missing.

"Those responsible for these heinous crimes must be brought to justice. These culture of impunity must stop. #No to Impunity and Yes to Accountability#,'' Felix Agbor Balla, director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, said in a tweet on Monday.

The incident occurred last Friday in Ngarbuh village in the Donga Mantung department, he added.

Cameroon has been marred by protests since 2016, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority.

Unverified reports claim that thousands have been killed and displaced since clashes erupted over three years ago.

“Ngar village, Donga Mantung - Suffering, death and killing are now the new normal. How did we get here where human life no longer has any value? We must all, now, genuinely seek for #peace before this country loses its soul.

''I pray for all those innocent victims. #Cameroon," Akere Muna, chairman of the International Anti-Corruption Conference Council tweeted on Sunday.

‘’The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of defence formally refutes these preposterous allegations and specifies, in light of the methodically and professionally cross-check information, that it is simply an unfortunate set-up on security operations underway in the region,’’ according to a statement signed by Beti Assoma Joseph Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence.

Protesters in the Central African nation are calling for a return to federalism or independence of English-speaking Cameroon.

As of December 2019, there were 679,000 displaced persons in Cameroon and 52,000 refugees in Nigeria who fled from the Anglophone regions, according to humanitarian organizations.

However, Cameroon's Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji denied the existence of a crisis and said in December 2019 that only 152,000 persons were displaced from the Anglophone regions, Amnesty International said in a report.

A national dialogue took place last year that focused on the grievances of the English-speaking population of the North West and South West regions of the Central African country.