At least eight children were killed and twelve were injured this Saturday, October 24 in the attack on the Kumba school in the English-speaking region of southwestern Cameroon, the UN said in a new report.
Read also: Cameroon: ten years in prison for soldiers who shot dead two women and their children
“
At least eight children were killed by gunfire and machete attacks.
Twelve others were injured and taken to local hospitals,
”the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cameroon said in a statement, without specifying the age of the victims.
"
The attack on schoolchildren is the worst atrocity since the resumption of the school year on October 5, 2020 in which more students have enrolled in the North West and South West regions than in recent years,
" OCHA added.
For nearly three years, separatist groups and the army have been clashing in these two Cameroonian regions where most of the English-speaking minority live, part of which considers themselves marginalized by the country's French-speaking majority.
“
Boycotting schools has been a strategy of the separatists in recent years.
About 700,000 young people were outside the school system because of the conflict,
”Arrey Elvis Ntui, senior analyst for the International Crisis group in Cameroon, told AFP.
“
The government and English-speaking civil society have put a lot of pressure on separatist groups to return their children to school, and schools that had been closed for years have started to reopen,
” he continued.
Read also: Separatist crisis in Cameroon: a special status recommended for the English-speaking regions
The attack has not yet been claimed and the attackers have not yet been identified by the authorities.
An emergency meeting was organized on Saturday by the Cameroonian Prime Minister.
“
These people (the aggressors) will be caught by all means.
I say by all means,
”nevertheless warned Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong, prefect of the department of Mémé, affected by the attack.
He also insisted that the school was "
undeclared
" and that he was going to give instructions that "
all schools in the department of Granny be declared
" for security reasons.
The fighting in English-speaking Cameroon, but also the atrocities and killings of civilians by the two camps, according to many NGOs, have left more than 3,000 dead and forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes.
