Yaounde: The death toll has risen to 25 from an attack on a village in Cameroon’s war-torn southwest region, the government said on Tuesday.
More than 20 people died when gunmen raided the village of Egbekaw, a neighbourhood in the town of Mamfe in southwest Cameroon at around 3 a.m. local time (0200GMT) on Monday, according to the local authorities.
Nineteen men, five women and an eight-year-old child were killed during the attack and nine injured, some of whom are in “a critical condition”, said Emmanuel Rene Sadi, the minister of communication and government spokesperson, on Tuesday.
“The defense and security forces are working hard to fish out the perpetrators of this macabre expedition and bring them to book,” said Sadi, adding that the attack was carried out by a separatist faction known as Manyu Unity Warriors.
Separatists want to create an independent nation in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, where they have been clashing with government forces since 2017.
