Attackers storm school in Cameroon, kill at least 4 students
Attackers shot dead at least four students and
wounded a dozen others after storming into a private school in Cameroon on
Saturday morning, an official said.
It was not immediately clear why the attack at the
Mother Francisca Memorial College occurred. The deputy prefect of the community
of Kumba, Ali Anougou, blamed separatists who have been fighting the military
in parts of western Cameroon. Some separatists have targeted schools or
students.
“At least six students were shot at close range,”
Anougou said, with some in critical condition.
The official vowed that the perpetrators would be
captured and killed, and that residents living near the school would face
measures for not intervening.
The school was an illegal, undeclared one, Anougou
said, adding that authorities could have made security arrangements for the
school otherwise.
The separatist movement grew out of protests in
parts of English-speaking western Cameroon in 2016 against alleged
discrimination at the hands of Cameroon’s French-speaking majority.
Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of
thousands displaced, with civilians suffering from the clashes between
separatists and security forces.
