English-speaking Cameroon: 18 injured in three explosions during a marathon

BETTING À DAY

Eighteen people were injured on Saturday by three explosions at the start of a marathon in the English-speaking south-west of Cameroon, plagued by a bloody conflict between the army and separatist rebels, said to AFP the Minister of Sports and the local governor. 

These explosions took place at the launch of the 28th edition of the ascent of Mount Cameroon, also called “Course de Hope”, which took place in Buea, capital of the South West region, 70 km west of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon.

“Eighteen people were injured, including an athlete and 17 spectators,” Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, the Minister of Sports, told AFP.

“There were a few attempts at disruption with three explosions on the route. These explosions had no impact on the race,” said the governor of the region, Bernard Okalia Bilai.

In a video broadcast on WhatsApp messaging, the attack was claimed. by the Ambazonian Defense Forces (ADF), one of the main armed groups in English-speaking areas.

“Our forces launched an attack targeting the soldiers who were protecting the athletes participating in the Mount Cameroon race in Buea,” said Daniel Capo, the ADF spokesman.

The North West and the Sud-Ouest are populated mainly by Cameroon's English-speaking minority, some of whom feel ostracized by the French-speaking majority of this country, which has been ruled with an iron fist for nearly 40 years by President Paul Biya, 90.

These two regions have been the scene since the end of 2016 of a deadly conflict between armed separatist groups and the army and the police, both sides being regularly accused by international NGOs and the UN of crimes against civilians.

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The conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives and forced more than a million people to move, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

The Embassy of States United in Cameroon condemned the explosion on Twitter “as we condemn any act of violence”.

The soldiers went to the scene of the explosions and life returned to normal in Buea, said noted an AFP journalist.

A total of 483 athletes from Cameroon and abroad participated in the “Race of Hope”, according to an official document consulted by AFP.< /p>

This competition of nearly 42 km consists of climbing Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in the country. This year's edition was marked by the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of this competition launched in 1973.