Mass Killings in Ambazonia Spark Outrage and Renew Calls for Intervention
By Andre Momo, BaretaNews | September 25, 2024
The tragedy unfolding in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions has again captured grim headlines following the release of a September 17, 2024 report by Cameroon Concord News, which detailed ongoing mass killings of Southern Cameroonians by Cameroonian military forces. The latest atrocity occurred on September 10, when a brutal raid on Bafut, a town in the North-West Region, left six civilians dead, including a pregnant woman.
The report paints a harrowing picture of “systematic violence” intended to terrorize Ambazonian communities into submission, with eyewitness accounts describing targeted killings, house-to-house searches, and the looting of homes. Survivors say the military operation, which lasted several hours, was carried out without provocation or warning.
“This is no longer just a security crackdown — it is the slow, deliberate destruction of a people,” said a local resident, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation.
The massacre in Bafut is part of a broader pattern of state-sponsored repression that has defined Cameroon’s approach to the Anglophone Crisis since 2016. Despite government claims of targeting armed separatists, the overwhelming number of victims have been unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.
While separatist groups have also drawn criticism — particularly for kidnappings, extortion, and occasional attacks on civilians — the scale and coordination of state violence far outweigh any separatist abuses. Human rights monitors have consistently warned that Cameroon’s military actions may constitute crimes against humanity.
In response to the Bafut killings, BaretaNews joins a growing chorus of voices demanding immediate international intervention. We call upon the African Union, United Nations, and regional stakeholders to halt Cameroon’s genocidal campaign and to initiate independent investigations into crimes committed by the military.
The African Union, in particular, must no longer stand by in silence. Its founding principles mandate action against mass atrocities and impunity — yet Ambazonia continues to burn under its watch.
The continued militarization of the crisis — absent any genuine political dialogue — has created a humanitarian catastrophe, with thousands dead, hundreds of thousands displaced, and entire communities traumatized. The people of Ambazonia are not just caught in the crossfire; they are the intentional targets of a campaign of terror.
Justice, peace, and freedom are not radical demands — they are fundamental rights. Ambazonians have suffered long enough. The international community must now go beyond rhetoric and act decisively to stop the killings, hold perpetrators accountable, and support a credible path to self-determination.
