The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo has announced a change in the military strategy against separatist armed groups who now make use of more sophisticated weapons to multiply deadly attacks on soldiers in the North West and South West regions.
This was during an unannounced visit to the North West region of Cameroon Wednesday September 22, barely a week after some 15 soldiers perished in a gruesome attack on their convoy in the Ngoketunjia Division, claimed by separatist group led by dreaded General No Pity.
As part of his visit agenda to the region, Joseph Beti Assomo held a security meeting with top military and administrative officials of the region during which he rolled out the new military strategy to crush the non-State armed groups.
He recommended a solid morale, serenity, action and determination to all the troops whose army heads attended the meeting.
The change of military strategy is a response to a number of attacks perpetrated by separatist fighters with the help of sophisticated and heavily armed weapons reportedly acquired thanks to their collaboration with external fundamentalist groups.
Reacting to the two recent attacks that left soldiers and civilians death, the army spokesperson said intelligence services established with certainty that the increased rate of violence by use of quality and firepower they have at their disposal is a result of them joining terrorist entities operating outside the country.
He equally noted a change in strategy by Ambazonia fighters and stated clearly that Cameroon’s security and defence forces will stop at nothing to ensure peace returns to the restive regions.
It is alleged that as part of this announced change in military strategy, the Government has dispatched Stryker combat vehicles to the North West region to reinforce the fighting capacity of the troops. Stryker vehicles have robust armor protection, can sustain speeds of 60 miles-per hour, have parts commonality and self-recovery abilities and have a central tire inflation system. The Infantry Carrier Vehicle carries a nine-man infantry squad and a crew of two and has a Remote Weapon Station with an M2 .50 calibre machine gun or MK-19, 40mm grenade launcher.
The crisis that started in 2016 will enter its fifth year in the month of November. This new developments comes up amid calls for the Government to give up the military solution and engage talks for a genuine dialogue.
Ariane Foguem
