YAOUNDE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's Minister of Communication and government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said Monday evening 10 separatists, one soldier and a civilian have been killed in clashes between the Cameroonian army and armed separatists in the country's troubled English-speaking region of Northwest.
According to Sadi, separatists attacked an army construction site in the region on Friday, killing one soldier and a civilian and abducting five civilians who were working on the site.
In retaliation, on Saturday, the army attacked a "fortified" base of the separatists in Small Babanki-Kedjom Ketinguh, a remote locality of the region, Sadi said.
"At the end of this crossfire, 10 secessionist terrorists including three women were neutralized," he said in a statement, adding that the leader of the separatists popularly called "general fireman" was among those killed.
Government forces and armed separatists have been clashing since 2017.
