The Southern Cameroons Interim Government has strongly denounced a deadly attack by a regiment of French Cameroun’s Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR on the Kumba District Hospital, accusing French Cameroun leader President Biya and his Territorial Administration Minister, Paul Atanga Nji of nurturing the Beti Ewondo soldiers behind the attack.

The Southern Cameroons Homeland Security Department said in a statement that the attack that killed 4 Southern Cameroonians and injured dozens betrayed the true image of the genocide led by the Biya Francophone regime, which encourages French speaking Cameroun army soldiers to continue killing innocent Southern Cameroons civilians.

Acting President Ikome Sako and the Secretary of Communications, Chris Anu have both been quoted as saying that the attack on the Kumba Hospital showed that the French Cameroun political leadership was intimidated by the success of the lockdown in Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroons Interim Government also observed that these French Cameroun government crimes will not weaken the Ambazonian nation, but will rather increase the power and motivation of the resistance.

An Ambazonian Commander in the Meme County told Cameroon Concord News correspondent in Kumba that the crime has been masterminded and implemented by BIR soldiers deployed to Kumba the chief city in the Meme County. The Ambazonian Interim Government also immediately appealed to Southern Cameroonians particularly those in the Diaspora to keep the financial donations coming, in order for the Interim Government to support the county-by-county defense efforts.

The United States embassy in Yaounde has asked the Biya regime to probe the deadly hospital arson at the Kumba District hospital on Monday. The Embassy reacted to the attack in a February 12 statement stressing that the government must probe, hold perpetrators accountable and also publicly publish results of the said probe.

“We call on the Cameroonian government to conduct a transparent investigation into this crime, to ensure the courts hold the perpetrators accountable, and to make the Cameroonian people aware of its findings,” the statement read in part. We urge both sides in the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon to allow unfettered access to humanitarian and healthcare workers, and never to attack hospitals or health centers.”

It is vital to include in this report that General Melingui of the Cameroun army had publicly admitted that forces under his command torched civilian and other protected settlements in the execution of the senseless war. For this admission, he was promptly relieved of his command.  That public admission of responsibility, removed reasonable doubts about the forces torching of civilian and protected settlements as weapons of war targeting civilians and civilian objects.

Short of a similar admission in the Kumba Hospital case, it will take an independent investigation by internationally recognized or certified forensic experts to apportion responsibility for this despicable crime, although going by the prior admission by General Melingui,  the consistent pattern of conduct in which the torching of civilian settlements he admitted ,may provide similar facts evidence to establish criminal responsibility for this and other crimes targeting civilian and other protected settlements.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest and Rita Akana