US missionary killed in restive northwest Cameroon
The violence in Cameroon's anglophone region has claimed the lives of at least 420 civilians, 175 security forces and an unknown number of separatists since last year. AFP PHOTO
What you need to know:
- The voter turnout for this month's presidential election was very low in both anglophone regions, though longtime ruler Paul Biya won more than two-thirds of the votes cast, according to official results.
Biya, 85, has been in power since 1982 and was re-elected for a seventh term with 71 percent of the votes nationwide.
An American missionary died Tuesday after his vehicle was "riddled with bullets" in northwest Cameroon's restive anglophone region, a religious official from the local archdiocese told AFP.
A hospital source confirmed that the victim "died this afternoon" of his wounds in hospital in the regional capital Bamenda, following Tuesday's attack.
Security forces were visible around the hospital on Tuesday.
In Washington State Department spokesman Robert Palladino later confirmed "the death of a United States citizen in Bamenda," adding that "we are providing all appropriate consular services but out of respect for the family during these difficult times we have nothing further on that".
The missionary's widow, Stephanie Wesco, tweeted that her husband Charles was now "with the Savior he adored and faithfully served for many years"
"My heart is broken," she added. "I want to wake up from a horrific nightmare".
The two anglophone regions in western Cameroon are the site of an uprising by armed separatists, who have also called for a boycott of local schools.
They argue that the French-language education system penalises English-speaking students in the largely francophone central African nation.
The violence, which erupted last year, has claimed the lives of at least 420 civilians, 175 members of the security forces and an unknown number of separatists, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.
It was impossible to determine on Tuesday which side of the conflict was responsible for the attack.
On Thursday, gunmen killed a linguistics professor in the same area.
University staff said the murder of the academic, who was also in charge of administration, bore the hallmarks of the "Amba boys," or separatists fighting for an independent English-speaking state called Ambazonia.
The government has refused to engage in dialogue with the anglophone separatists, whom it called "terrorists" and has sent forces into the area to restore order.
More than 300,000 people have fled the violence, some to neighbouring Nigeria.
The voter turnout for this month's presidential election was very low in both anglophone regions, though longtime ruler Paul Biya won more than two-thirds of the votes cast, according to official results.
Biya, 85, has been in power since 1982 and was re-elected for a seventh term with 71 percent of the votes nationwide.
