YAOUNDE, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's army said on Tuesday that its troops have killed five separatist fighters in the country's English-speaking region of Southwest, where a prolonged armed separatist conflict is in progress.
The Rapid Intervention Battalion, the country's elite force, raided a hideout of the fighters in the Mofako Butu locality of the region late Monday.
Among those killed was a "dreaded" separatist commander who called himself "General Bitter Cola," said Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong, senior divisional officer for Meme division where the hideout is located.
"He terrorized civilians, killing some. We are calling on all other fighters still in the bush to drop their weapons and embrace peace," Ndong said.
Separatists have been fighting to create an independent nation in Cameroon's Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017. ■
