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CAMEROON-UNREST-ANGLOPHONE-BUS
Bus attack kills one, wounds several in anglophone Cameroon
YAOUND, Sept 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A coach driver was killed and
several other people were injured in an attack on a passenger bus
convoy in strife-torn northwestern Cameroon, a public broadcaster
said late Sunday.
The attack launched by armed men on Saturday night is the
latest violence in the restive region, where English-speaking
separatists have declared an independent state.
Images shared on social media of the incident appeared to
show five coaches with their front windows and roofs smashed in by
construction equipment.
Witnesses told local media that the attackers had also used
heavy machinery to dig a large trench in the middle of the road,
which was undergoing repairs in the village of Akum near the city
of Bamenda.
The assailants “forced their way on to the construction site
and seized an excavator which they used to dig a hole through the
road”, said an employee of the roadworks company managing the
project.
Separatist unrest in Cameroon’s two minority English-speaking
regions — North-West and South-West — has left scores dead and
displaced about 200,000 people since late 2016.
Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands
of Cameroon’s majority French speakers have led to almost daily
acts of violence and retribution, triggering an army crackdown.
A total of 109 members of the police and security forces have
been killed, according to government figures.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0815 hrs