1. Military Burn Down the Palace of Naka in Bali Nyongha
The entire palace of the traditional ruler of Naka, a village in Bali Nyongha, North West Region of Cameroon was razed to the ground by Cameroonian soldiers on Saturday, November 20, 2021. DHPI could not get the reason why the military forces carried out this act on the village as the chief of the village has been in exile for a while now as his village is one of the places where separatist fighters have actively engaged the military.
Eye-witnesses told DHPI that the military descended on the palace, setting ablaze the buildings that constitute the palace, including 3 vehicles that were found around the compound. No lives were lost in the act, though it led to a mass exodus of the villagers who are scared of what the military might do next.
This latest attack on the palace of Naka comes at the time when the government, through the parliament, has recently called on all traditional rulers who had deserted their villages due to the armed conflict to return to their palaces.
2. Separatist Fighters Kill One Military, Injure Others While Military Kill One and Wound Two in Mbalangi and Malende Respectively
At least one soldier was killed by separatist fighters in Mbalangi, a locality in the Mbonge Sub Division in the South West Region of Cameroon on Friday, November 19, 2021. The separatist fighters launched a surprise attack on a military unit, killing one soldier and leaving some others injured. The state armed forces called for reinforcement and the injured soldiers were taken to the Buea Regional Hospital for medical attention.
No casualties were reported on the side of the separatist fighters. However, the price of the attack on the military by the separatist fighters was paid by 3 people of Malende, a neighbouring village to Mbalangi. One man is said to have died on the spot while two others sustained serious injuries from an attack by the retreating soldiers from the confrontation with the separatist fighters in Mbalangi.
It is claimed that the dead victim and the other two people injured were shot at when the military opened fire on the population of Malende.
According to some locals of Malende, the military carried out this act on the three victims in retaliation to the attack on them by Separatist fighters in Mbalangi. They went on to narrate to DHPI that the dead villager and the two who were injured were never struck by stray bullets given that the military did not fire their guns in the air maybe to scare them, but rather directed their guns at them.
All this goes to question the professionalism of the Cameroonian military who are supposed to be trained to keep their cool and handle their emotions in a mature manner when they see their colleagues fall in battle.
Most of the atrocities carried out on the population in the course of this conflict has always been the direct result of incensed military directing their anger on the local population. The military claim the local’s harbour, know where the separatist fighters hide, are their relatives and friends and therefore must pay the price when they cannot lay their hands on the separatist fighters.
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