At least six children have been killed and eight injured in Cameroon on Saturday as gunmen invaded a school, shooting recklessly in an area where separatist insurgents have been on rampage.
Reuters reports that the gunmen arrived the school with motorcycles around midday in the city of Kumba in South West Region.
It was not uncertain if the violence was linked to an ongoing struggle between the army and secessionist groups seeking for an independent state known as Ambazonia in the English-speaking west.
The region has embroiled in violence since 2017 which has led to the death of hundreds while thousands have been displaced from their homes and children deprived of education.
“They found the children in class and they opened fire on them,” city sub-prefect Ali Anougou told Reuters.
“She was helpless and she was shouting ‘mum please help me’, and I told her ‘only your God can save you now’,” recounted Isabel Dione who found her 12-year-old daughter bleeding from the stomach on a classroom floor. The girl was rushed to hospital where she is undergoing treatment for a gunshot wound.
Eight children were killed and12 others injured said United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Viral videos on social media filmed by local journalists showed adults rushing from the school with children in their arms, surrounded by wailing onlookers.
Source: Reuters