The number of villagers killed during an attack in western Cameroon has risen to 25, the government said Tuesday evening, blaming anglophone separatists.
The pre-dawn assault on Monday occurred at Egbekaw village, in the Southwest Region.
scene of deadly clashes between rebels and government forces for seven years.
The authorities had announced on Monday that more than 20 people died, including women and children.
The communications ministry on Tuesday said “Nineteen men, five women and an eight-year-old children” were killed.
and accused a small separatist faction called Manyu Unity Warriors of carrying out the assault.
Gunmen had first set fire to “several houses before firing at close quarters on people trying to escape” the flames, the ministry said.
Cameroon’s primarily English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions have been gripped by conflict since separatists declared independence in 2017.
Agence France-Presse