By Amindeh Blaise Atabong
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – Gunmen killed nine people and left several others wounded in an attack on a weekly market in Bamenyam town in the west of Cameroon early on Tuesday, a local official said.
The attack in Bamboutos division, a French-speaking area, took place close to the region where armed separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state called Ambazonia since 2017.
“We are just witnessing nine deaths because some people have some complaints which make no sense. It is deplorable,” said David Dador Dibango, a local government official.
None of the separatist groups have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Attacks on French-speaking regions have increased in the last two years as rebels have stepped up their drive to create a breakaway state.
The drawn-out conflict stems from perceived marginalisation of Cameroon’s Anglophone community by the majority Francophone-led government.
The fighting has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced nearly a million, with atrocities committed by both sides.
(Reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Editing by Bernadette Baum)