Operation Bamenda Clean

Operation Bamenda Clean is an ongoing Cameroonian special counter-insurgency operation in Bamenda, Northwest Region, aimed at preventing armed Ambazonian separatists from operating in the city.[10] By January 2021, Cameroon was gradually achieving what a security analyst at the University of Yaoundé called "relative peace" in Bamenda,[3] and the mayor of the city stated that the operation was succeeding.[2]

Operation Bamenda Clean
Part of the Anglophone Crisis

View of Bamenda
Date8 September 2020[1] – Present[2]
Location
Bamenda, Northwest Region, Cameroon
Status Ongoing; Armed separatists weakened in Bamenda[3]
Belligerents
 Cameroon  Ambazonia
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. Valere Nka[4]
Brig. Gen. Ekongwese Divine[5]
Gousmo Emile[4]
Paul Achobang (Mayor of Bamenda)[2]		 "General Sweet Tuma" (POW)[6]
Units involved
Rapid Intervention Battalion
5th Joint Gendarmerie Region[5]
Police units[7]		 Ambazonia Defence Forces[8]
Other unspecified armed groups
Casualties and losses
Over 20 surrendered (according to Cameroon)[9]

Background

Throughout the Anglophone Crisis, armed separatists had used motorcycles to carry out hit-and-run attacks against soldiers and police officers,[11] and the Cameroonian security forces wished to deprive them of bases of operation in the city and its vicinity.[12] On September 4, the Mayor of Bamenda outlawed motorcycles in the city, to which separatists responded by threatening to bring all traffic to a halt.[13] Three days prior to the official launch of the operations, soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion had killed a prominent Ambazonian general in Bamenda named Luca Fonteh, known as the nom de guerre "General Mad Dog".[14]

The operation

Aims and rationale

The operation was officially announced on the same day as it commenced on September 8, 2020 a day before the three-year anniversary of the start of the war[15] and 23 days before the Ambazonian Independence Day.[7]

The aims were stated to be to protect civilians from "terrorists" and "criminals" and restore public security in the city.[5] The operation was consistent with Cameroon's general military strategy of focusing on retaining control over all major urban areas in the Anglophone regions, while not trying to recapture all rural areas that had come under separatist control.[16] As of September 2020, separatists openly controlled villages not far from Bamenda.[17]

2020
  • On September 10, a Cameroonian soldier was killed during clashes with separatists.[18] Ambazonia Defence Forces deputy defense chief Daniel Caapo (based in exile) responded by imploring local civilians to rise up in opposition to Operation Bamenda Clean.[8]
  • On September 14, two people were summarily executed by soldiers.[19]
  • On September 21, soldiers summarily executed five civilians in Ngongham, outside Bamenda.[20]
  • On October 6, several teachers were abducted by alleged separatists.[21]
  • On October 16, a fire erupted in the building where the command post of the Bamenda Territorial Gendarmerie was located. According to an official statement, the cause had been an accident rather than an act by the separatists, and the fire was put out after two and a half hours.[22]
  • On November 3, Cameroon accused separatists of attacking the Longla Comprehensive College in Bamenda.[23]
  • At some point in late-December, there were armed clashes and explosions, and an eight-year-old was killed when he got caught in the crossfire between Cameroonian troops and separatist fighters.[2]

2021
  • On January 23, at least four civilians were killed in Bamenda.[24]
  • On February 1, Cameroonian soldiers "neutralized" two armed separatists in Bamenda, and captured a separatist commander known as "General Sweet Tuma".[25]
  • On February 3, three public employees were abducted by suspected separatists in Bamenda, allegedly for sealing shops whose owners respected separatist-imposed ghost towns.[26]
  • On February 5, Cameroonian soldiers rescued four civilian hostages from a separatist camp outside Bamenda. The Cameroonian Army reported to have suffered no casualties, and claimed that four separatist fighters were killed in the fighting. One civilian was wounded during the raid.[27]

Alleged abuses

In late-September, the Cameroon Bar Association accused the army of extorsion and intimidation of civilians, arbitrary arrests, assault, torture, and denying detained persons access to lawyers.[10] Similar concerns were voiced by locals on the same day as the operation started.[5] Brig. Gen. Valere Nka denied the accusations and said that the army respected human rights.[6]

References
  1. Cameroon: Security officials in Bamenda launch operation to protect population, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 8, 2020. Accessed Sep 9, 2020.
  2. Cameroon's Anglophone crisis: No end in sight, Deutche Welle, Jan 4, 2021. Accessed Jan 4, 2021.
  3. Cameroonians Displaced by Crisis Return on New Year, Voice of America, Jan 2, 2020. Accessed Jan 3, 2020.
  4. Situation in NW/SW: Operation "Bamenda Clean" On Course, Cameroon Tribune, Sep 10, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020.
  5. Soldiers, Police Extort Civilians In Operation Bamenda Clean, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 8, 2020. Accessed Sep 9, 2020.
  6. Cameroun : L’Armée neutralise deux hommes armés lors d’un raid à Bamenda, Le Bled Parle, Feb 2, 2021. Accessed Feb 2, 2021. (French)
  7. Operation Bamenda Clean: Five tins you get for know about dis joint army, gendarme and police operation, BBC, Sep 25, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020. (Pidgin)
  8. Moki Edwin Kindzeka (10 September 2020). "Cameroon Military Sweeps Northwest City to Weed Out Separatists". Voice of America. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  9. Cameroon: About 20 separatists repent since launch of operation Bamenda clean-NDDRC Cordinator, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 28, 2020. Accessed Sep 28, 2020.
  10. Cameroon/Bamenda clean operation: Bar Council wants soldiers’ ‘abuses’ probed, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 25, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020.
  11. Twitter, Cameroon News Agency, Jul 11, 2020.
  12. Operation Bamenda clean: Residents share tori of 'wickedness' as Cameroon army begin mop-up separatists, BBC, Sep 9, 2020. Accessed Sep 26, 2020. (Pidgin)
  13. Tussle For Power Between Ambazonia Fighters And Administrators Over Who Controls Bamenda, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 4, 2020. Accessed Dec 28, 2020.
  14. Cameroon: Late Amba ‘General Mad Dog’ killed over 100 in NW region – Military, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 7, 2020. Accessed Sep 7, 2020.
  15. Explosions in Bamenda and Killings in Besongabang Military Base, ADF Claims Responsibility, Cameroon Journal, Sept 13, 2017. Accessed Apr 19, 2018.
  16. Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: How to Get to Talks?, Crisis Group, May 2, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2019.
  17. I Traveled Deep Into Conflict to Bury My Grandfather. I Returned Slightly Charmed, Fodors Travel, Sep 23, 2020. Accessed Sep 24, 2020.
  18. Cameroon: One soldier killed in Amba/military clashes in Bamenda, Journal du Cameroun, Sep 10, 2020. Accessed Sep 10, 2020.
  19. Twitter, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 19, 2020.
  20. NWSW region: Gov’t Forces Kill 11 Civilians In 24 Hours, Cameroon News Agency, Sep 22, 2020. Accessed Seo 24, 2020.
  21. Crise anglophone : les ambazoniens kidnappent les enseignants à Bamenda, Actu Cameroun, Oct 11, 2020. Accessed Oct 11, 2020.
  22. Twitter, Cameroon News Agency, Oct 20, 2020.
  23. Cameroon govt accuses ‘Ambazonia’ separatists of multiple school attacks, Journal du Cameroun, Nov 5, 2020. Accessed Nov 28, 2020.
  24. Twitter, Cameroon News Agency, Jan 22, 2021.
  25. Cameroun : L’Armée neutralise deux hommes armés lors d’un raid à Bamenda, Le Bled Parle, Feb 2, 2021. Accessed Feb 2, 2021. (French)
  26. Crise anglophone : trois agents de la commune de Bamenda 2 kidnappés, Actu Cameroun, Feb 4, 2021. Accessed Feb 4, 2021. (French)
  27. Cameroon Military Says It Has Freed 4, Including 2 Students, Voice of America, Feb 7, 2021. Accessed Feb 8, 2021.
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