from ROSY SADOU in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Cameroon Bureau
YAOUNDÉ, (CAJ News) – MORE than 1 000 people have died over the past year because of the raging conflict featuring the army, separatists and Islamist groups in Cameroon.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition has reported the deaths.
Its report highlights an escalation in political violence in Cameroon, with a nearly 30 percent increase from the previous year.
Armed clashes between Ambazonian separatists and the Cameroon Armed Forces (CAF) in the Anglophone North West and South West regions, and between CAF, Boko Haram, and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in the Far North, have contributed to this surge.
At least 31 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care were reported in 2023, according to the report.
Additionally, outbreaks of monkeypox and cholera, exacerbated by flooding in the capital Yaoundé, have intensified the humanitarian crisis, leaving over 1 million people internally displaced and 4,7 million in need of humanitarian aid.
The majority of attacks on health care in Cameroon were concentrated in the anglophone regions, mirroring the geographical patterns of previous years.
Health centres were frequently targeted, particularly in the Far North.
Armed groups, including Ambazonian separatists and CAF troops, were often responsible for these attacks.
“The impact of these attacks has been devastating,” the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition stated.
Some English-speaking regions of Cameroon are agitating for self rule, claiming the government of President Paul Biya, dominated by French-speaking Cameroonians, are marginalizing them.
Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition has called on the International Criminal Court and national courts to initiate prosecutions for war crimes and crimes against humanity by perpetrators.
– CAJ News