Gunmen shot dead two traditional leaders in volatile western Cameroon before being gunned down by soldiers, a local ruler said Monday, adding that the assailants were believed to be anglophone separatists.

The casualties were the president and secretary general of a traditional council, according to Afungchwi III, the king of Bambili, where the clash took place last Thursday. He said the two assailants were “probably” separatists angry over calls for disarmament by the traditional leadership and politicians.

Bambili lies in the Northwest Region, one of two regions in western Cameroon that have been rocked by violence since late 2017. Anglophone militants have launched an armed campaign to break away from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

Source: AFP