Cameroon shooting: UN demands probe into army’s attack on civilians

The United Nations (UN) on Thursday called for an investigation into the alleged shooting of fleeing civilians by Cameroonian soldiers during a weekend raid, killing up to nine people.

Three witnesses reported that soldiers entered the village of Mautu in the South West region – at the heart of a separatist insurgency – raided homes and shot civilians as they ran for cover under nearby cocoa bushes.

The Cameroonian military however, denied the allegations.

It said it was conducting a raid on separatist positions when it came under fire and had killed what it labelled “terrorists”.

“Deeply concerned & saddened by the attack on Mautu … that claimed the lives of many civilians. I call for an investigation into this attack,” said the head of the UN’s Central Africa office, François Louncény Fall, on Twitter.

Britain also expressed concern over the incident.

“There must be an urgent and impartial investigation, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” the British High Commission in Yaounde also said on Twitter.

For four years, the army has clashed with Anglophone separatist fighters among the forests and cocoa farms of western Cameroon. Over 3,000 people have died in the violence, which has intensified since the start of this year.

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The witnesses said they saw nine dead people, including a child and an old woman.

“None of the dead was a separatist” fighter, they said.

Olajumoke Adeleke