Two Southern Cameroonians were killed after being shot by soldiers loyal to the Biya Francophone regime in Yaoundé on Wednesday, the latest violence in a region hit by bloody conflict between Ambazonia fighters and the Francophone dominated Cameroon government military.

Yaoundé as usual described the Nylbat-Andek killings as an “unfortunate incident” claiming that three of its soldiers disobeyed orders and attacked villagers.

“The men, acting “in violation of their instructions, attacked some residents on whom one of the soldiers unfortunately opened fire”, said Colonel Cyrille Atonfack, communications officer at the ministry of defence, in a press statement.

The Southern Cameroons victims were two women aged 47 and 49.

In its continued efforts aimed at deceiving international public opinion, Yaoundé also said that the soldiers were arrested and an investigation had been opened.

Southern Cameroons have suffered a bloody conflict between Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards and the Francophone dominated Cameroon government military for years.

Southern Cameroons resentment at perceived discrimination snowballed into the declaration of an independent state in 2017 — the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia” by the Ambazonian leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

Biya, 89, has resisted calls for more autonomy in the regions and responded with a crackdown on Southern Cameroonians.

The violence has claimed more than 45, 000 lives and displaced around a million people, according to Ambazonia Interim Government sources.

International monitors and the United Nations say both sides have committed abuses, including crimes against civilians.

In February 2020, at least 23 people were killed in a military raid on the village of Ngarbuh in the North West, 15 of whom were children, according to UN figures.

By Rita Akana with files from AFP