Tag Archives: Cameroon
Survivors tell of France's 'dirty war' in Cameroon independence
Ekité (Cameroon) (AFP) – It was a “dirty war” waged by French colonial troops but it never made headlines and even today goes untold in school history books. The brutal conflict unfolded in Cameroon, which on January 1 marks its 60th anniversary of independence — the first of 17 African countries that became free from their colonial masters in 1960. “My life was overturned,” Odile Mbouma, 72, said in the southwestern town of Ekite.
Gunmen cross from Nigeria, attack Cameroon border post: witnesses
By Josiane Kouagheu DOUALA (Reuters) – Gunmen attacked a border crossing in Cameroon’s southwest on Thursday, launching their assault from Nigeria, according to security officials who witnessed the incident. A Nigerian military spokesman denied the assailants had crossed over from Nigeria, and the incident is likely to further damage relations between the neighbours, strained over the rise of an Anglophone Cameroonian separatist movement.
Tight security as Cameroon awaits symbolic anglophone 'independence'
Police patrolled empty streets in Cameroon’s restive anglophone belt as a separatist group made a symbolic proclamation of independence on Sunday, a day after a young man was shot dead by security forces. In Buea, the main city in the English-speaking southwest, the streets were mostly deserted as security forces patrolled the streets including the area where the separatists were expected to gather, an AFP correspondent reported. “I can’t go out, they asked us to stay home,” said one city resident who identified herself just as Nancy.
Boko Haram suspects killed, tortured in Cameroon custody: Amnesty Cameroun: Amnesty accuse les forces de sécurité de torture entraînant la mort
Dozens of Boko Haram suspects have died in Cameroon custody, rights group Amnesty International said Thursday, with security forces brutally torturing them in the fight against the jihadist group. The NGO said it had found 101 people who said they were held in secret and tortured by the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and the General Directorate of External Research (DGRE), Cameroon’s intelligence services, between March 2013 and March 2017.
Cameroon army vessel capsizes at sea, dozens missing: security sources
Yaoundé (AFP) – A Cameroon army vessel transporting “dozens” of troops from the elite Rapid Intervention Brigade capsized on Sunday off the country’s southwestern coast, a security source told AFP. The Rapid Intervention Brigade is in the front line of Cameroon’s fight against Boko Haram jihadists in the far north. “The army has begun searches,” the source said, while another source close to the Cameroon army said at least one body had been recovered.
U.N. agency worried about forced return of Nigerian refugees from Cameroon
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday it is concerned about Cameroon forcing thousands of refugees to return to northeast Nigeria, an area struggling with insurgency and facing a potential famine. UNHCR teams in Nigeria have heard and documented accounts of Cameroonian troops returning refugees against their will, despite an agreement between the two countries that any such returns should be voluntary. Babar Baloch, UNHCR spokesman, told a press briefing the agency was “particularly concerned” that more than 2,600 refugees, many of whom had fled militant group Boko Haram, had been sent back to Nigerian border villages since the start of the year.
Cameroon expelled 2,600 Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram: UN
More than 2,600 Nigerians who fled into northern Cameroon to escape Boko Haram jihadists have been forced to go home since the start of the year, the UN said Tuesday. Thousands of Nigerians have been displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has seen deadly attacks since 2009 in pursuit of a caliphate in northern Nigeria. Some 85,000 have sought refuge in Cameroon but the UN refugee agency said many had been sent back, with officials citing security reasons.
Gay rights groups brave abuse, violence to fight HIV in Cameroon
By Anne Mireille Nzouankeu YAOUNDE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Sitting in a circle with several other young men in a charity’s offices in Cameroon’s capital, Fleur listens intently to the speaker talk about gay sex before slowly raising his hand. “Can we catch AIDS by swallowing sperm?” he asks, prompting laughter from his peers at the group discussion held by Alcondoms, an organization promoting the rights and health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Cameroon has the second highest HIV prevalence rate in West and Central Africa, after Nigeria, and men who have sex with men are hit the hardest, says the U.N. AIDS program (UNAIDS).
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