By Our Reporter
A gang of unidentified gunmen attacked a school in Cameroon on Saturday where they massacred at least six children and injured several others before fleeing.
Reports indicate that that the unknown gunmen stormed a private school in Southwest Cameroon, where they killed six children on spot and wounded several others.
Gunmen stormed the Mother Francisca School around midday on Saturday after arriving on motorcycles. Some children were injured when they jumped from the second floor in an attempt to escape the attack.
Officials in Cameron’s south western city of Kumba have blamed the attack on Anglophone secessionist groups which are suspected to have carried out the attack.
It should however be noted that there has been growing unrest in some parts of Cameroon since 2016 since Anglophone groups in the country began their push for independence.
Schools and some parts of Cameroon have been shut down since 2016 in quest to curb the situation. According to these Anglophone separatist groups, they’re being marginalised by French speaking majority.
A local education official said the victims were aged between 12 and 14.
Some schools in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have recently reopened following a four-year shutdown due to threats from separatists fighting for an independent state of Ambazonia.
Anglophone activists say the country’s French-speaking majority is marginalising the English-speaking minority.
Videos uploaded to social media show adults running from the school while carrying children.
“They found the children in class and they opened fire on them,” city sub-prefect Ali Anougou told the media.
It was not clear why the school was targeted, but the sub-prefect said secessionist insurgents were behind the attack.
However a secessionist leader said a statement would be released expressing “disgust” at the killings.