No fewer than seven Ambazonian fighters, including a key commander, identified as General RK were murdered after government forces struck their hideout on Saturday in Cameroon’s Anglophone region of Northwest.
The crackdown, which began early on Saturday in Fundong, Boyo division of the province, was confirmed by a military official in the area who asked to remain anonymous.
Among those dead was the main commander of the Ambazonia separatist group, simply known as General RK.
As Ambazonia commander, he was the leader of the British Southern Cameroon Resistance Force, BSCRF, reported Cameroon News agency.
“General RK was among the first to take up arms in 2017 to fight the government.
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He was leading several groups of fighters in the Northwest region and was responsible for the deaths of many soldiers and civilians,” the official told Xinhua by phone.
He added that the physical elimination of General RK could be a significant setback to the separatist insurgency in the region.
Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.
In another report, no fewer than 33 people have been confirmed dead following a fire outbreak at a smuggled petrol warehouse in Seme Krake, a Beninous town on the border with Nigeria.
Africa Today News, New York reports that that Seme Krake is in Benin’s southeastern department of Oueme.
According to the chief of the local fire brigade, Dallys Ahouangbegnon, the fire, which broke out close to the pineapple market in the town, spread to houses and vehicles parked near the site.
Three injured individuals were evacuated for medical treatment.
Some of those who managed to escape to Banouto from the scene described the effect of the fire as catastrophic and the loss of lives and property as staggering.