September 2021 Bamessing ambush
Part of the Anglophone Crisis
DateSeptember 16, 2021[1]
Location
Near Bamessing, Ngoketunjia Division,[2] Ngo-Ketunjia
Result Ambazonian victory
Belligerents
 Cameroon  Ambazonia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown "General No Pity"[1]
"General Sagard"[2]
Units involved
6th Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR)[3] Bambalang Marine Forces[4]
Jaguars of Bamessing[2]
Casualties and losses
15 killed
Two armored vehicles destroyed[4]		 None confirmed

On 16 September 2021, two Ambazonian separatist groups, namely the Bambalang Marine Forces and Jaguars of Bamessing, ambushed a military convoy near Bamessing, Ngo-Ketunjia. The ambush was one of the deadliest single separatist attacks so far in the Anglophone Crisis,[1] and led to the announcement of a "paradigm shift" by Cameroon's Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo six days later.[5]

Background

By September 2021, the separatists had acquired anti-tank rockets, probably imported from Nigeria. These weapons were used in a series of attacks,[6] with the first taking place at Kumbo on 12 September.[4]

The ambush

According to Agence Cameroun Presse, the ambush was jointly organized by two separatist militias, namely the Bambalang Marine Forces led by "General No Pity" and the Jaguars of Bamessing commanded by "General Sagard".[2] The attack targeted a convoy of the 6th Rapid Intervention Battalion which was on a reconnaissance mission.[3] The rebels stopped the convoy using an improvised explosive device[7][8] next to a hill[7] on a road from Bamessing to Sabga,[2] whereupon they fired anti-tank rockets and destroyed two armored vehicles.[4] The insurgents then targeted the government troops with heavy gunfire.[4] Overall, 15 soldiers were killed in the ambush.[2]

Following the ambush, the separatist fighters including "General No Pity" filmed themselves celebrating next to the burning vehicles before taking off with captured weapons.[1][2] Based on the footage, Agence Cameroun Presse journalist Ariane Foguem argued that rebels had also taken uniforms from the convoy.[2] The insurgents went on to post videos on social media which showed them posing with the naked corpses of the killed soldiers. Foguem also claimed that the rebels had captured some soldiers whom they subsequently tortured to death.[9]

Aftermath

After the attack, Cameroonian forces went to search for the separatists in Babanki and killed at least two civilians.[10] Cameroon's United Socialist Democratic Party, an opposition party, called for a ceasefire between the government and the separatists in response to the ambush, with party president Prince Ekosso stating that the "whole country is bleeding".[6] United People for Social Renovation secretary general Serge Espoir Matomba stated on Facebook that the ambush was a "shameful attack on Cameroon's democracy".[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cameroon: Ambazonia fighters kill 15 soldiers in restive NW region, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 17, 2021. Accessed Sep 17, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ariane Foguem (17 September 2021). "Anglophone crisis: About 15 soldiers perish in Amba ambush in Sabga". Agence Cameroun Presse. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 Aurore Bonny (21 September 2021). "'Secessionist terrorists' kill 15 soldiers in Cameroon conflict zones". AA. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Cameroon separatists kill 15 soldiers in attacks using explosives, Reuters, Sep 21, 2021. Accessed Sep 21, 2021.
  5. ↑ MINDEF Admits Strategy Against Ambazonia Forces Has Failed, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 22, 2021. Accessed Sep 22, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Cameroon: Rebels Use Smuggled Anti-Tank Rockets to Kill 28 People, Voice of America, Sep 23, 2021. Accessed Sep 23, 2021.
  7. 1 2 "Cameroun: une dizaine de soldats tués dans le Nord-Ouest". rfi. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Rebel attacks kill 15 soldiers, civilians in western Cameroon". al-Jazeera. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Ariane Foguem (20 September 2021). "Cameroon: Army silent over gruesome killing of soldiers in restive Anglophone region". Agence Cameroun Presse. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  10. ↑ Facebook, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 17, 2021.
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