Cameroon said Tuesday that it firmly opposed what it called “bias” report by the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on atrocities in its war-torn English-speaking regions.

The HRW report published on March 28 blamed government forces for killing “scores of civilians”, using indiscriminate force, and torching “hundreds of homes” over the past six months.

“The government of Cameroon categorically rejects these allegations against its professional forces who are fighting to preserve the territorial integrity of the country,” Cameroon’s Minister of Communication and government spokesman, Emmanuel Rene Sadi told a press conference here.

The minister accused the HRW of “obvious bias in favor of armed gangs.” He said Cameroon was “really surprised” that the report failed to put stress on kidnappings, closure of schools, burning of hospitals and “other atrocities” committed by armed separatists.

Armed separatists fighting for the “independence” of the two Anglophone regions in Cameroon have been clashing with government forces since November 2017.

The United Nations estimates that at least 430,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict.

Source: Xinhuanet