Buea Gunfire in anglophone Cameroon's restive town: Witnesses

Gunfire broke out on Monday in Buea, the capital of a western region of Cameroon gripped by violence between anglophone separatists and security forces, witnesses said.

We have been hearing gunfire since early this morning in the districts of Molyko, Malingo and Bonduma," a resident told AFP by phone, in an account confirmed by three other people.

"Separatist fighters entered several areas of the city and started firing. The army and police have retaliated," another witness said.

Several vehicles have been burned (and) people are hunkered down at home."

Buea is capital of Southwest Region which with the neighbouring Northwest Region is home to most of Cameroon's English-speakers, who account for about a fifth of a mainly French-speaking population of 22 million.

Years of resentment at perceived discrimination at the hands of the francophone majority fuelled demands for anglophone autonomy, which on October 1 last year culminated in a symbolic declaration of independence.

Radicals named Buea as the capital of the self-declared state, Ambazonia, which has no international recognition.

A government crackdown then followed, plunging the two regions into almost daily acts of violence and retribution.

According to a government report last month, separatists had killed 74 soldiers and seven police since late 2017 while more than 100 civilians had died "over the past 12 months.