About 10 people were killed and several others injured early Friday in three separate localities in Northwest, one of the two troubled English-speaking regions of Cameroon, local sources said.

“Three civilians were killed in Ntem, three others were shot in Mbaw and four boys who were apparently traveling to Nigeria were also shot dead. All the three villages are neighbors. Some of those killed are women,” a local resident, who asked not to be named revealed.

There were conflicting reports of who committed the killings. Locals claimed that they were shot by government forces but the army said they were armed separatists killed in their hideouts.

“The military identified their hideouts and attacked. All of those killed have been terrorizing the people in the areas. Several others were injured and they escaped,” a military source, who also opted for anonymity, said.

On Thursday, one soldier and one armed separatist were killed when separatists attacked army camps in the localities of Mbiame and Bafut of Northwest, according to the army.

Since November 2017, government forces have been clashing with armed separatist forces who want the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest to secede from the largely French-speaking nation and form a new country called “Ambazonia.”

Xinhua