Cameroon cracks down on Anglophone separatists
Cameroon's anglophone minority has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the French-speaking majority. After separatists issued a declaration of independence for the state of Ambazonia, police staged a crackdown opposed to secession.
A goat walks past burned and damaged buildings in Kembong, south-west region of Cameroon December 29, 2017.
Cameroon's government is hunting down secessionists blamed for the killings of 22 soldiers and policemen.
Since October, troops have staged a crackdown targeting activists in Cameroon's restive western regions where the English-speaking minority has staged protests against the government in this predominantly francophone country.
In October, separatists issued a symbolic declaration of independence from the capital Yaounde in Francophone Cameroon and formed a separate state called Ambazonia.
The move prompted a crackdown by a government firmly opposed to secession.
Dozens of people have died. Official figures, though, refer to the police and soldiers killed but do not provide a detailed count for civilian or separatist casualties.
The spiralling violence has forced an estimated 30,000 Cameroonians to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.
TRT World's Abdi Osman reports.
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