BUEA, Cameroon (Reuters) – An explosion injured nine students on Wednesday in a lecture hall at the University of Buea in one of Cameroon’s western regions where English-speaking separatists are at war with government forces, a university administrator told Reuters.
Two security sources said authorities were investigating it as a suspected attack.
The administrator, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said the injured students had been transported to hospital.
The campus was sealed off and students were hurrying home, a Reuters reporter said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
This is at least the second deadly explosion in Buea, in South West region, this week after a taxi driver was killed on Monday by an explosive device.
Over the past year, separatist rebels have stepped up their use of explosive devices, killing dozens of Cameroonian soldiers, conflict data shows.
The crisis began in Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions in 2016 when teachers and lawyers protested against their perceived marginalisation by the primarily French-speaking national government.
A violent crackdown by security forces helped radicalise the movement, and the ensuing war has killed over 3,000 people and displaced nearly 1 million.
(Reporting by Blaise Eyong, additional reporting by Josiane Kouagheu; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Bate Felix and Alison Williams)
