Operation Bamenda Clean

Operation Bamenda Clean
Part of the Anglophone Crisis

Cameroonian soldiers in front of a captured rebel hideout at Bamenda in 2021[1]
Date8 September 2020[2] – present[3]
Location
Bamenda, Northwest Region, Cameroon
Status Ongoing[4]
Belligerents
 Cameroon  Ambazonia
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. Valere Nka[5]
Brig. Gen. Ekongwesse Divine Nnoko[1][6]
Gousmo Emile[5]
Paul Achobang (Mayor of Bamenda)[3]		 "General Sweet Tuma" (POW)[7]
"General Lion" †[1]
"General Cobra" (POW)[8]
"General Cross and Die" †[9]
"General Trouble" †[10]
"General Satan" †[11]
Units involved
Rapid Intervention Battalion
5th Joint Gendarmerie Region[6]
Police units[12]		 Ambazonia Defence Forces[13]
Bambalang Marine Forces[14]
Other unspecified armed groups
Casualties and losses
Over 20 surrendered (according to Cameroon)[15]

Operation Bamenda Clean is an ongoing Cameroonian special counter-insurgency operation in Bamenda, Northwest Region, aimed at preventing armed Ambazonian separatists from operating in the city.[16] By January 2021, Cameroon was gradually achieving what a security analyst at the University of Yaoundé called "relative peace" in Bamenda,[4] and the mayor of the city stated that the operation was succeeding.[3] However, as of March 2021, separatist-imposed ghost towns remained widely respected by the local population,[17] and separatists controlled most roads leading in and out of Bamenda.[18]

  1. ^ a b c Moki Edwin Kindzeka (7 February 2021). "Cameroon Military Says It Has Freed 4, Including 2 Students". Voice of America. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. ^ Cameroon: Security officials in Bamenda launch operation to protect population, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 8, 2020. Accessed Sep 9, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Cameroon's Anglophone crisis: No end in sight, Deutsche Welle, Jan 4, 2021. Accessed Jan 4, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Cameroonians Displaced by Crisis Return on New Year, Voice of America, Jan 2, 2021. Accessed Jan 3, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Situation in NW/SW: Operation "Bamenda Clean" On Course, Cameroon Tribune, Sep 10, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cnasep82020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cameroun : L’Armée neutralise deux hommes armés lors d’un raid à Bamenda, Le Bled Parle, Feb 2, 2021. Accessed Feb 2, 2021. (French)
  8. ^ "CrisisWatch April 2021". International Crisis Group. April 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "Crise anglophone: un «général» ambazonien abattu par l'armée dans le Nord-Ouest". Actu Cameroun. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  10. ^ Bisong Etahoben (26 October 2021). "Self-Acclaimed Separatist General Killed In Cameroon's Northwest Region". HumAngle. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  11. ^ ""General Satan" Anglophone Separatist Killed In Cameroon". HumAngle. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  12. ^ Operation Bamenda Clean: Five tins you get for know about dis joint army, gendarme and police operation, BBC, Sep 25, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020. (Pidgin)
  13. ^ Moki Edwin Kindzeka (10 September 2020). "Cameroon Military Sweeps Northwest City to Weed Out Separatists". Voice of America. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  14. ^ Four killed as Cameroon separatists celebrate "independence" day, Xinhua, Oct 2, 2021. Accessed Oct 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Cameroon: About 20 separatists repent since launch of operation Bamenda clean-NDDRC Cordinator, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 28, 2020. Accessed Sep 28, 2020.
  16. ^ Cameroon/Bamenda clean operation: Bar Council wants soldiers’ ‘abuses’ probed, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 25, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020.
  17. ^ Cameroon/Bamenda: Making good use of ‘Ghost Towns’, Journal du Cameroun, Mar 3, 2021. Accessed Mar 3, 2021.
  18. ^ Cameroon separatists kill 15 soldiers in attacks using explosives, Reuters, Sep 21, 2021. Accessed Sep 21, 2021.