At least three armed separatists and four members of the government forces died Sunday night in violent clashes in Bali, a locality in the Northwest, one of the two war-torn English-speaking regions of Cameroon, local sources said.

“Civilians have fled the area and fighting is intensifying. I saw three corpses when I was escaping. Many people are injured,” a local resident who asked not to be named said.

Government forces interviewed confirmed the confrontation and stressed that a mission to restore peace and security in the locality was in progress.

Ambazonian Communication Secretary Chris Anu warned of “dangerous times” for the locality.

“Mayhem has been unleashed on the people of Bali. We are urging everyone in Bali to look for a safer location to move to,” Anu said last Sunday in a widely circulated WhatsApp voice.

Clashes are escalating between government forces and armed separatists in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest, where separatists have created an independent nation they call “The Federal Republic Ambazonia”.

Source: Xinhuanet with editing from CCN