YAOUNDE, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least four civilians were killed early Monday by separatist fighters in Cameroon's two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest, local and security sources said.
In Mbatu, a locality in the Northwest Region, the fighters opened fire at close range, killing three people, including a woman who was onboard a motorcycle. In Lyongo village in the Southwest Region, the fighters shot dead a commercial motorcyclist and torched his motorcycle, several security sources and local media reported.
"There were thunderous gunshots. It was like serious fighting was ongoing. It was scary," a resident in Bamenda, the chief town of the Northwest Region where Mbatu is located, told Xinhua and asked not to be named.
"The separatist terrorists have now resorted to attacking civilians. We have deployed additional troops to the regions," a senior military official in the Southwest Region told Xinhua but opted for anonymity.
Separatist leaders said on social media platforms that they have intensified the "ghost town" operation every Monday, during which all sorts of activities in the two Anglophone regions would come to a halt.
The Monday "ghost town" has been effective since 2017 when separatists began clashing with government forces to create an independent nation in the Anglophone regions. ■
