Soldiers freed several hostages in western Cameroon, including a senator from the presidential party who was kidnapped a month ago, and killed a dozen of their suspected kidnappers, armed Anglophone separatists, the army announced Tuesday.
Elizabeth Regina Mundi and her driver were kidnapped on April 30 by rebels demanding independence for the North-West and South-West regions, which are mainly populated by the English-speaking minority in a predominantly French-speaking country.
In an army operation against “a terrorist hideout” on Monday evening in Ashong, in the Northwest, “several hostages were freed, including the senator,” army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo said in a statement. “A dozen terrorists have been neutralized,” according to the authorities’ terminology for pro-independence militants who have been killed.
“Several others are wounded and on the run, and three have been captured,” the text added, without giving further details, particularly on the number of hostages released.
The separatist conflict erupted in 2017 in both regions after the government cracked down hard on protests demanding equal treatment and more autonomy for anglophones, some of whom feel ostracized by the power of President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 40 years. The war has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced about a million in five years, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).