Four civilians and four suspected separatist fighters were killed on Tuesday in Koshin village, Menchum division, the Northwest region of Cameroon, according to a security source who spoke to Xinhua.
Confirmed: The security source said suspected separatist fighters opened fire indiscriminately on a crowd of villagers, killing four people. Government troops were alerted to the shooting, confronted the fighters as they tried to flee, and killed four of the suspected fighters. Local authorities then deployed additional forces to the area to restore peace and order.
Unconfirmed: The identities of the separatist fighters and the precise reason for the attack remain unverified by independent observers. It is also not yet confirmed outside the security source that the fire was truly indiscriminate. No independent confirmation has yet appeared in the media.
The crisis has been ongoing in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions since 2017, when separatists began demanding an independent nation, leading to sporadic clashes between armed groups and government forces.
No further details have been released, and authorities have stressed that additional troops are on standby to prevent further escalation.
