BaretaNews Editorial | 26 September 2026
Recent reports of security-force deaths in Buea and Matouke expose the continuing danger of a war without a settlement. Cameroun’s soldiers deserve more than another deployment, and Ambazonia’s people deserve more than another military operation.
A government cannot claim lasting security while families keep receiving news of deaths and communities remain afraid of the next confrontation. The latest reporting should force an uncomfortable question upon Yaoundé: what political outcome is this continuing sacrifice supposed to achieve?
BaretaNews’ position is that Ambazonian aspirations cannot be answered by military force. Recognising that political reality is essential to ending the suffering.
What the recent reports establish—and what they do not
Mimi Mefo Info reported on 23 September that three Camerounian soldiers were killed in Matouke. BaretaNews also reported the incident. Matouke lies in the Littoral Region, near the South-West boundary; it should not be misrepresented as an incident within the two Anglophone regions.
MMI reported that the Fako/Meme Unity Warriors claimed responsibility and described the attack as retaliation for reported civilian killings in Ekona. Those are the armed group’s claims. MMI cautioned that the video it reviewed could not establish the origin of equipment displayed. A claim of retaliation does not establish responsibility for the Ekona deaths.
In a separate report published on 25 September, BaretaNews identified a gendarme reportedly killed in Molyko, Buea, on 24 September as Hayatou. That account remains attributed reporting, not independent confirmation obtained for this editorial.
BaretaNews’ 24 September report from Small Mankon requires particular caution: although its headline suggested a fatality, the body said the officer’s condition remained unknown. It cannot responsibly be added to a confirmed death toll.
Nor should posters, repeated social-media claims or multiple articles drawing on the same accounts be mistaken for independent corroboration. No nationwide military casualty total is established here.
A uniform cannot guarantee safety
To Camerounian soldiers deployed in Ambazonia, the message is direct: a uniform cannot guarantee your safety in an unresolved war. The reported incidents demonstrate continuing danger; they do not prove that every location is unsafe or that any armed group controls the entire territory.
Your lives matter. So do the lives of the civilians among whom you serve. Neither should be treated as expendable while political leaders postpone difficult decisions.
Soldiers and their families deserve honest explanations about the purpose of deployments, the risks involved and the plan for ending hostilities. Asking those questions is a demand for accountability.
The political grievances have not disappeared
Cameroon News Agency’s recent retrospective traces the conflict to the legal and educational grievances raised in 2016 and the escalation that followed. It describes continued displacement, disruption of essential services and abuses attributed to both government forces and separatist groups. It also notes that the 2019 dialogue and special-status measures have not ended the fighting.
Our editorial conclusion is clear: a response that leaves the central political disagreement unresolved cannot deliver durable peace. Ambazonian demands for self-determination must be addressed through a credible political process in which affected people have a meaningful voice.
Dialogue must allow the fundamental disagreement to be discussed. A process that requires one side to abandon its political position before talks begin offers little prospect of trust.
Justice cannot become a slogan for revenge
The reported Ekona killings demand an independent investigation, protection for witnesses and accountability based on evidence. Their victims deserve truth. Further bloodshed cannot substitute for that work.
The same principle must guide Ambazonian leadership. Supporting self-determination should mean defending the people whose future is at stake: their homes, education, livelihoods and freedom to speak. Civilian suffering cannot become an acceptable cost of political messaging.
Give people a route out of war
BaretaNews calls for an independently monitored cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access, credible investigations into abuses and substantive negotiations with representative Ambazonian voices.
Yaoundé must explain how it intends to move from recurring military operations to an enduring settlement. Ambazonian leaders must show the discipline and political coordination needed to negotiate for their people.
There is no honour in an endless procession of funerals. The proper response to these reports is to confront the decisions that keep producing them. Soldiers need a route home. Ambazonian families need a future beyond war.
This is a BaretaNews editorial. Its policy conclusions are opinion; incident accounts are attributed to the linked reports. CNA provides historical and humanitarian context, not corroboration of each recent military incident.
