The Cameroon military has launched a major search for dozens of boys abducted on Sunday by suspected separatists in the country’s South-West region.
A senior officer in charge of the area said that armed men stormed the locality of Mmouck Leteh in Lebialem division taking away about 60 boys, most of them aged between 12 and 16 years.
He told the BBC that 12 of the boys had managed to escape and were back in the village where they were kidnapped.
The officer said a separatist commander, commonly referred to as General Ayeke, had claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, demanding a ransom of $2,500 (£2,000).
Lebialem has become a hotspot for separatist activity.
Local officials say that many of the separatists have escaped military raids from neighbouring North-West region, finding a safe haven in Lebialem where the terrain makes it difficult for the military to operate.
The government forces have been fighting separatists in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions for the past four years now.
The war has cost the lives of at least 3,000 people and forced more a million from their homes, according to the United Nations. (BBC)
