Battle of Bambui
{{Short description|2022 military engagement}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Bambui
| partof = Anglophone Crisis
| date = July 31, 2022
| result = Cameroonian victory
| commander2 = "General Rasta"{{Executed}}
"Colonel John"{{Executed}}
| commander1 = Bouba Dobekreo
| combatant1 = {{flagdeco|Cameroon}} Cameroon
| combatant2 = {{flagdeco|Ambazonia}} Ambazonia
| casualties1 = 11 injured (per Cameroon)
| casualties2 = 15 killed (per Cameroon)
}}
{{Campaignbox Anglophone Crisis}}
Between July 28 and 31, 2022, Cameroonian forces launched a localized offensive into the Ambazonian-controlled town of Bambui, in Northwest Region, Cameroon, sparking clashes with the separatist Ambazonia Defence Forces.
Prelude
The Anglophone Crisis began in 2017, when English-speaking people in the northwestern and southwestern regions of Cameroon declared independence due to allegations of persecution by the French-speaking Cameroonian government.{{Cite web |last=Moussissa |first=Nancy-Wangue |date=2022-09-23 |title=Cameroon: Who makes up the Ambazonian government and diaspora? |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/235415/cameroon-who-makes-up-the-ambazonian-government-and-diaspora/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=The Africa Report.com |language=en-US}} Originally beginning as a low-level insurgency, the Cameroonian government established control over the major cities while the Ambazonian rebels controlled much of the countryside and a few villages by 2020.{{Cite web |last=Nwafor |first=Justice |date=2022-10-31 |title=Financing The Ambazonian Dream |url=https://humanglemedia.com/financing-the-ambazonian-dream/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=HumAngle |language=en-US}} By 2022, both sides regularly launched raids on the territories of one another. In July 2022, tensions flared up in the Northwest Region near the regional capital of Bamenda after Cameroonian troops killed the commander of the pro-Ambazonian Red Dragons.{{Cite web |title=War in Anglophone regions: Chris Anu officially announces death of brother, Oliver Lekeaka |url=https://cameroonnewsagency.com/war-in-anglophone-regions-chris-anu-officially-announces-death-of-brother-oliver-lekeaka/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Cameroon News Agency |language=en-US}}
Battle
On July 28, Cameroonian media stated that Cameroonian forces were preparing an incursion into Northwest Cameroon.{{Cite web |title=Two Ambazonia forces killed in Bambui, 15 killed and hideouts ransacked in Batibo-Security sources |url=https://cameroonnewsagency.com/two-ambazonia-forces-killed-in-bambui-15-killed-and-hideouts-ransacked-in-batibo-security-sources/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Cameroon News Agency |language=en-US}} A day later, Cameroonian forces passed through the cities of Enyo, Ewai, and Bossom. While passing through Bambui on July 31, elements of the Cameroonian Tubah Gendarmerie Brigade and Special Gendarmes Forces ambushed a group of Ambazonian fighters, sparking a firefight.{{Cite web |last=Etahoben |first=Chief Bisong |date=2022-08-02 |title=Cameroon Army Kills Ten Separatist Fighters |url=https://humanglemedia.com/cameroon-army-kills-ten-separatist-fighters/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=HumAngle |language=en-US}} According to Cameroonian media, fifteen Ambazonian fighters were killed in the clash, while eleven Cameroonian soldiers were injured. The operation was planned by Cameroonian general Bouba Dobekreo.
Two Ambazonian commanders, General Rasta, also known as Roy Angafor Asenjo, and Colonel John, were captured.{{Cite web |title=Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon: Joint Flash Report on Extrajudicial Killing of Two Alleged Separatist Fighters in Bambui, North West Region – Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa |url=https://www.chrda.org/anglophone-crisis-in-cameroon-joint-flash-report-on-extrajudicial-killing-of-two-alleged-separatist-fighters-in-bambui-north-west-region/ |access-date=2023-03-21 |language=en-US}} The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa stated that General Rasta and Colonel John were both tortured before their deaths, and were extrajudicially killed.{{Cite web |date=August 4, 2022 |title=Joint Flash Report: Extrajudicial Killing of Two Separatist Fighters in Bambui |url=https://www.chrda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Anglophone-Crisis-in-CameroonJoint-Flash-Report-on-Extrajudicial-Killing-of-Two-Alleged-Separatist-Fighters-in-Bambui-North-West-Region.pdf |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities}}
References
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