Soldiers shot at least eight people dead in Cameroon’s restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence.
The separatists chose 1 October, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for “Ambazonia”, the name of the state they want to create.
Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against alleged discrimination.
The government deployed security forces at the weekend in English-speaking regions, notably Buea in the southwest and Bamenda, the main town in the northwest and a hub of anglophone agitation.