Fighting between government troops and anglophone separatists in parts of southwest Cameroon Sunday disrupted voting in legislative and municipal elections, local officials and other sources said. The authorities issued no details on casualties.

Sunday’s clash was in Muyuka, a rebel stronghold in Northwest region, although fighting takes place almost daily in both English-speaking regions: Northwest and Southwest, which border Nigeria.

“There were exchanges of fire between separatists and soldiers,” said a witness contacted by telephone.” An election committee official who asked not to be named told AFP: “I called our superior in Muyuka and he said that there had been shooting early this morning, but that the situation was calm now and the electors were voting.” But an opposition candidate in the region, who also requested anonymity, said: “The secessionists and the soldiers clashed. There was no election.”

Speaking by phone, a senior member of a non-governmental organisation in the region said the shooting had started early in the morning and continued until at least 11:00 am.

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