Cameroon's security forces have rescued nine people, including students and one teacher, after storming a separatist camp in the South-West region. The operation came after the group was seized from a school in Kumba on Tuesday, November 21, 2018.
Officials said the victims were not 20, as first reported, but nine in total. The confusion followed the attack on Lords Bilingual School, where gunmen entered the compound and triggered panic among pupils and staff.
Some students escaped by jumping over the school fence as the attackers moved in. Journalist Peter Tah, who has followed the conflict in the area, said the early reports overstated the number taken because of the chaos at the scene.
Nto'ou Ndong Chamberlin, the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme district in the South-West region, told the BBC that three students were released on Tuesday night after security forces killed two gunmen in a shootout at the camp. He said one attacker was captured during the raid.
The seven others, including the teacher, later got away during the confrontation. Mr Nto'ou said two more attackers, among them the group's leader known as "Man of Locks", were killed in an operation on Wednesday morning.
Security forces also recovered nine guns, cartridges and three motorbikes, according to the official. The raid came almost two weeks after nearly 80 students were safely returned after being taken from a school in Bamenda, the North-West regional capital.
The government blamed separatists for that earlier kidnapping, but the Anglophone separatists denied involvement. The North-West and South-West regions have been in rebellion since last year, with armed groups demanding a boycott of schools until a referendum on independence is held.
Those groups want to create an independent state called Ambazonia. The unrest has followed protests over marginalisation by Cameroon's French-speaking majority and a crackdown by the state.
Kidnappings of students, teachers and other prominent people have become common in the Anglophone regions. Peter Tah said Kumba has been badly affected, and that many residents in the city and nearby towns have fled because of the fighting.
