Cameroon mayor killed in ambush

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Separatist gunmen killed the mayor of a town in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone South West Region, the country’s state broadcaster and a senior military official said.

Ashu Prisley Ojong, mayor of Mamfe, 500 km from the capital, died when his convoy came under fire from Anglophone separatist fighters, broadcaster CRTV said.

A senior military officer in the region, who requested anonymity, told Reuters two soldiers were wounded in the attack.

Ojong is one of the first senior elected officials to be killed in the conflict between Cameroon’s army and English-speaking militias.

The insurgency began after government cracked down on peaceful protests by lawyers and teachers who complained of marginalisation by the French-speaking majority more than three years ago.