Separatists kidnap 30 women in Cameroon – officials
By AFP
Separatists in Cameroon’s restive anglophone region which has suffered years of fighting between the state and insurgents have kidnapped around 30 women who were protesting against violence, officials said on Tuesday.
Insurgents, who are fighting government forces to carve out an English-speaking homeland in western Cameroon, regularly face accusations they target civilians deemed to be complicit with the authorities in the 80 percent francophone country.
“Over 30 women were severely tortured and kidnapped by heavily-armed terrorists” on Saturday in the village of Kedjom Keku in the Northwest region, where armed separatist groups frequently kidnap civilians, mostly for ransom, local officials said.
The government typically uses the phrase “terrorists” in connection with armed insurgents from the majority-francophone country’s English-speaking minority who are fighting to establish an independent homeland, known as the “Amba boys”. Read more
