
Xinhua | Cameroonian soldiers killed five armed separatists suspected to have led an operation that murdered seven school children in the country’s restive English-speaking region of Southwest, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by army spokesman Atonfack Guemo.
The statement said, the military was conducting a raid on separatist positions in Balangui locality of the region when it came under fire and had killed what it labelled “terrorists.”
“At the end of this violent clash, five terrorists were neutralized and others wounded who took to their heels. The group led by the so-called General Above the Law, a recidivist murderer and rapist was responsible for several deadly attacks,” Guemo said and added that “General Above the Law” personally led the operation that killed the school children.
The seven children were killed in a classroom in October last year while they were studying in Kumba. Separatist leaders have since denied having taken part in the massacre that was widely condemned.
Cameroon’s army has since 2017 been fighting English-speaking militias seeking to form a breakaway state they call “Ambazonia.”