5 die in bus attack in Cameroon’s Anglophone region

YAOUNDE, September 7 (Xinhua): Five people were killed and three others wounded Tuesday when suspected separatist fighters attacked a bus in Cameroon’s English-speaking region of Southwest, according to locals and security sources.

The bus had left Kumba and was heading to Buea, capital of the Southwest region, when it came under attack in Ekona locality along the highway, a senior military officer in the region said early Wednesday.

According to the officer, who requested anonymity, the suspected separatist fighters opened fire on the bus, killing the driver and some passengers.

Four of the victims died on the spot and the fifth died in hospital. “Our soldiers arrived at the scene when the terrorists had escaped,” he said over the phone.

The wounded and the deceased were transported by soldiers to Buea Regional Hospital, where medical staff told local reporters that three women were among the victims.

Separatists have imposed a week-long lockdown in the troubled English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since Monday to disrupt school reopening.

Schools in Cameroon resumed classes on Monday after the summer break, but separatists who want to create an independent state in the two Anglophone regions warned that no government school will be allowed to operate.