Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Fighting in Cameroon Kills Several Dozen

Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   YAOUNDE - A least 35 civilians have reportedly been killed and 40 homes
   torched in less than a week in Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest
   region, following bloody clashes between government troops and
   separatists fighting for the creation of an independent
   English-speaking state called Ambazonia. Both the rebels and the
   government blame each other for the gruesome murder of civilians,
   including children trapped in their burning homes. Affected relatives
   and communities that have escaped to the French-speaking capital,
   Yaounde, are trying to deal with the situation.

   Cameroonians from Donga Mantung, an administrative unit in the
   English-speaking Northwest region in Yaounde are trying to come to
   terms with news about massacres in their villages. Among them is
   38-year-old Bruno Ngeh, who said his wife's older sister's entire
   family of nine was killed in an attack in the village of Ngarr-buh
   Friday.

   "These people had taken refuge in Ngarr-buh thinking that they were
   going to be safe in such a place but they never knew that they will be
   killed in their sleep by the very military that is supposed to protect
   them. I think it is time for the international community to put
   pressure on the Cameroon government to find a quick settlement to this
   conflict that has claimed so many lives," he said.

   Donga Mantung's Roman Catholic, Baptist and Presbyterian churches
   decried the killing in services Sunday, saying at least 29 civilians,
   including children and a pregnant women, were killed, and 14 houses
   were torched in the fighting.

   'Military responsible for the killings'

   Like Ngeh, they all said it was the military that was responsible for
   the killings.

   The military said many people were killed in raids but gave no further
   details. Local media reported that at least 35 civilians were killed in
   the crossfire between separatist fighters and the military or burned
   when their houses were torched.

.