At least six children have been killed and eight wounded after gunmen stormed a school in Kumba, in Cameroon's Southwest Region, and opened fire indiscriminately. The attack occurred around midday on Saturday in an area where separatist insurgents are active, according to officials and parents.
The attackers arrived on motorbikes and in civilian clothes, targeting the school in a region that has been embroiled in a conflict since 2017 between the army and groups seeking to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia. Some children were injured jumping from second-storey windows to escape the gunfire.
Local education official Ahhim Abanaw Obase confirmed that the victims were aged between 12 and 14, with eight others taken to hospital. Isabel Dione, a parent, described finding her 12-year-old daughter on the floor of a classroom, bleeding from the stomach. 'She was helpless and she was shouting, 'Mum, please help me',' Dione told Reuters.
The United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that eight children had died, some by machete, and 12 were wounded. Videos on social media showed adults rushing from the school with children in their arms, surrounded by wailing onlookers. A photo verified by Reuters showed dried blood pooled on a classroom floor near scattered flip-flops.
City sub-prefect Ali Anougou and another official blamed the attack on secessionists, though no evidence was provided. A prominent separatist leader, speaking anonymously, said his group was preparing a statement to 'express our disgust' at the attack. Anglophone secessionists have previously imposed curfews and closed schools in protest against the French-speaking government of President Paul Biya.
