Anglophone Crisis

Anglophone Crisis
Part of the Anglophone problem

     Separatist presence
     Government presence
     Contested
Date9 September 2017[1] – present
(7 years, 2 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Northwest Region and Southwest Region (former Southern Cameroons), Cameroon
(Spillover in Cameroon's Littoral Region and West Region and Nigeria's Cross River State)[2]
Status Ongoing
Belligerents
 Cameroon Ambazonia
Commanders and leaders
Paul Biya
Philémon Yang
Joseph Ngute
René Claude Meka
Valere Nka		 Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe
Samuel Ikome Sako
Ayaba Cho Lucas
Ebenezer Akwanga
... and others
Units involved
FAC
Vigilante groups[3]
Militias of local chiefs[4]		 ADF
SOCADEF
ASC
... and others
Strength
12,500 troops, 9,000 militia (total size of army)[5] 2,000–4,000 fighters
(as of May 2019)[6]
Casualties and losses
800–1,000 killed
(as of February 2020)[7]		 ~1,000 killed
(as of June 2019)[8]
6,000+ civilians killed
(as of January 2023)[9]
700,000 internally displaced
63,800 refugees in Nigeria
(as of March 2021)[10]

The Anglophone Crisis (French: Crise anglophone), also known as the Ambazonia War,[11] is an ongoing armed conflict in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, between the Cameroonian government and Ambazonian separatist groups, part of the long-standing Anglophone problem.[12] Following the suppression of 2016–17 protests by Cameroonian authorities, separatists in the Anglophone regions (formerly collectively known as the Southern Cameroons) launched a guerrilla campaign and later proclaimed independence. Within two months, the government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its army into the Anglophone regions.[13]

Starting as a low-scale insurgency, the conflict spread to most parts of the Anglophone regions within a year.[14] By the summer of 2019, the government controlled the major cities and parts of the countryside, while the Ambazonian nationalists held parts of the countryside and regularly appeared in the major cities.[6] Separatists have occasionally carried out raids into the neighboring Francophone regions of Littoral and West.[15] Thousands of people have been killed in the war, and more than half a million have been forced to flee their homes.[6] The Cameroonian government was supported by the Buhari administration in Nigeria,[16] while at least one Ambazonian group is allied to Biafran separatists.[17]

Talks mediated by Switzerland in 2019 ultimately failed, and the Ambazonian leadership crisis has complicated any diplomatic process.[18] Separatist leaders who were extradited from Nigeria in 2018 were in 2019 handed life sentences by a military tribunal. Facing mounting international pressure for a global ceasefire, in July 2020, Cameroon began negotiating with these imprisoned leaders.[19] The talks were held between Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and other imprisoned leaders and representatives of the Cameroonian government. The talks outlined a series of conditions for the Cameroonian government to accept, which Ayuk Tabe said would create an "enabling environment" for substantial negotiations to occur.[20] These talks ultimately failed, and fighting continued.[21]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sept 13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cameroon:Anglophone crisis has spilled over Francophone zones-SDF Archived 31 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Journal du Cameroun, 31 December 2018. Accessed 31 December 2018.
  3. ^ Cameroon sees more vigilante groups against insecurity in Anglophone regions, XinhuaNet, 15 October 2019. Accessed 15 October 2019.
  4. ^ Cameroon Chiefs Create Militias for Protection from Separatists, Voice of America, 19 Oct 2020. Accessed 19 Oct 2020.
  5. ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies. (2014). Chapter Ten: Country comparisons – commitments, force levels, and economics. The Military Balance, 114(1), 471–492. doi:10.1080/04597222.2014.871887
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference crisisgroupmay22019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Briefing: Cameroon's intensifying conflict and what it means for civilians, The New Humanitarian, 6 February 2020. Accessed 8 February 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference unfoldingcatastrophe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ World Report 2023: Cameroon, Human Rights Watch, 13 January, 2023.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference aljazeeraapr12021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "'Ambazonia War' drowns SDF 28th Anniversary". Journal du Cameroun. 28 May 2018. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Cameroon's Anglophone crisis is threatening to spin out of control". Quartz Africa. 14 January 2018. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Deadly clashes between troops, ADF forces leave Nguti on the brink". Journal du Cameroun. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018..
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference acleddatapickingafight was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Cameroon:Anglophone crisis has spilled over Francophone zones-SDF –". journalducameroun.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  16. ^ Kindzeka, Moki (27 August 2021). "Cameroon, Nigeria Announce Effort to Jointly Fight Separatists". Voice of America. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Sako: Our quest for Federal Republic of Ambazonia is of no threat to Nigeria". The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference reutersjul42020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference theafricareportjul62020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Bone, R. Maxwell (8 July 2020). "Ahead of peace talks, a who's who of Cameroon's separatist movements". The New Humanitarian.
  21. ^ "Another attack in Cameroon's South West over land leaves more than 30 dead". 28 June 2022.