YAOUNDE, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Military authorities in Cameroon said Monday evening they have launched an investigation into the abduction of at least 63 civilians, including women, who were taken away by gunmen in the troubled English-speaking region of Southwest.
A special investigative squad is on the case, according to the army that has blamed separatists for the kidnapping.
Local sources told Xinhua the civilians were drinking in a bar early Monday in Mmouck Leteh, a locality in Lebialem division of the region, when heavily armed men held them at gunpoint and took them away to an unknown destination.
Armed separatists are known to be operating in the locality that recently witnessed "fierce" clashes between separatist groups leading to the death of five fighters, according to security sources.
Separatists have not claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Fighting between government forces and armed separatist groups has been going on since 2017 after the separatists declared the independence of a nation called "Ambazonia" in the two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.
According to the United Nations, more than 700,000 Cameroonians have been displaced internally and externally due to the fighting. Enditem
