Gunmen suspected to be separatist fighters have killed a municipal councilor in Cameroon’s war-torn English-speaking region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.
Councilor Mathias Bang of the Zhoa Council in the Menchum Division of the region was ambushed and killed by 5 a.m., local time, Wednesday in Befang locality, a council official told Xinhua.
“He was heading to Bamenda on a motorcycle when they (gunmen) stopped him and shot him. He died on the spot. The motorcyclist was seriously injured. He is in the hospital,” the official who asked not to be named told Xinhua. “We condemn this senseless killing and demand that authorities do something about it immediately. We can’t continue dying like flies.”
There has been renewed fighting in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest, where an armed separatist conflict has been waging since 2017.
Last week, gunmen attacked a bar in Bamenda, chief town of Northwest, killing two people and injuring 39 others.
Separatists want to create an independent nation in the regions.
