Randy Joe Sa’ah
The minister of communication, Rene Emanuel Sadi says the road side bomb killed four police officers in a frontier locality in the southwest region. Six other wounded men were evacuated to a hospital in the economic capital Douala in serious condition. The minister blames Ambazonia terrorists of planting the home-made explosives. The troops were in a convoy of military and police vehicles heading towards the frontier localities in Eyumojock district. News of the incident was first broken by separatist Ambazonia groups who earlier took responsibility for the attack and published the names and ranks of the fallen officers. They claim that a second bomb destroyed a military truck. But the government has neither commented on this, nor on further reports by the separatists that they have captured 9 soldiers in Akwaya, in the troubled southwest region bordering Nigeria. Minister Sadi has condemned the incident which he calls a criminal act by armed gangs and terrorists at a time when the government is preparing for an inclusive dialogue to resolve the crisis that has stretched into the third year.
The Ambazonia fighters have been blamed for previous bomb blasts in the northwest regional capital Bamenda. But this latest detonation is the deadliest and indicates that they have perfected their skills. Observers see this latest bomb blast as a game changer in the conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands more. Calls for an inclusive dialogue to end the conflict have multiplied but the government has not in a haste to replace har military approach.