YAOUNDE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Two separatist fighters, including a commander, were killed when Cameroonian government forces struck their hideout in the country's war-torn Anglophone Northwest region, local and security sources said on Sunday.
The operation, as confirmed by a military official in the region who requested not to be named, was launched late Saturday in Bafut, a locality in the region.
A key separatist commander who called himself "General Jakaban" was killed in the operation.
"The separatist terrorist general was a coward who attacked civilians and kidnapped them for ransom. He has terrorized people in Bafut for years, killing civilians and soldiers," the official said.
Cameroon's army has deployed additional troops to the region, which is expected to welcome the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Leo XIV, next month.
Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon's two English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions since 2017, when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions. ■
