YAOUNDE, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon said Friday that it firmly opposed what it called "bias" report by the U.S. on human rights abuses committed by Cameroon security forces.
On Thursday, U.S president Donald Trump made known his intention to scrap trade benefits for Cameroon citing "persistent gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" by Cameroonian soldiers.
"The government of Cameroon categorically rejects these allegations against its professional forces," said Cameroon's Minister of Communication and government spokesman Emmanuel Rene Sadi in a statement read on state broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television.
"We strongly condemn attacks against Cameroon which reflect a desire to weaken our institutions and undermine the morale of our defence and security forces in their mission to restore order and preserve our territorial integrity." Sadi added.
Cameroon security forces are facing a separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest where separatists want to create an independent nation and in its Far North region where terror group, Boko Haram continues to attack their barracks.
Sadi said the security forces where in the conflict zones to rescue the population of the terror "and not to be their executioners" stressing that the situation in the English-speaking regions of the country is "getting to normalcy".
Armed separatists fighting for the "independence" of the two Anglophone regions in Cameroon have been clashing with government forces since November 2017.
The United Nations estimates that more than 530,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict.
