Two traditional leaders reported killed in Cameroon

Gunmen shot dead two traditional leaders in volatile western Cameroon before being gunned down by soldiers, a local ruler said on Monday, adding that the assailants were believed to be anglophone separatists.

The casualties were the president and secretary general of a traditional council, according to Afungchwi III, the king of Bambili, where the clash took place last Thursday.

He said the two assailants were "probably" separatists angry over calls for disarmament by the traditional leadership and politicians.

Bambili lies in the Northwest Region, one of two regions in western Cameroon that have been rocked by violence since late 2017.

Anglophone militants have launched an armed campaign to break away from the rest of Cameroon, which is majority French-speaking.

The conflict has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced nearly 700,000, according to humanitarian organisations.

The Bambili king noted that the killings came after "peace had been gradually returning to the area with no serious incidents since December.