Battle of Bambui

The Anglophone Crisis began in 2017, when English-speaking people in the northwestern and southwestern regions of Cameroon declared independence due to allegations of persecution by the French-speaking Cameroonian government.[1] Originally beginning as a low-level insurgency, the Cameroonian government established control over the major cities while the Ambazonian rebels controlled much of the countryside and a few villages by 2020.[2] By 2022, both sides regularly launched raids on the territories of one another. In July 2022, tensions flared up in the Northwest Region near the regional capital of Bamenda after Cameroonian troops killed the commander of the pro-Ambazonian Red Dragons.[3]

On July 28, Cameroonian media stated that Cameroonian forces were preparing an incursion into Northwest Cameroon.[4] A day later, Cameroonian forces passed through the cities of Enyo, Ewai, and Bossom.[4] While passing through Bambui on July 31, elements of the Cameroonian Tubah Gendarmerie Brigade and Special Gendarmes Forces ambushed a group of Ambazonian fighters, sparking a firefight.[4][5] According to Cameroonian media, fifteen Ambazonian fighters were killed in the clash, while eleven Cameroonian soldiers were injured.[4][5] The operation was planned by Cameroonian general Bouba Dobekreo.[5]

Two Ambazonian commanders, General Rasta, also known as Roy Angafor Asenjo, and Colonel John, were captured.[6] The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa stated that General Rasta and Colonel John were both tortured before their deaths, and were extrajudicially killed.[7]