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Cameroon: Kidnappers Free 11 Teachers


Schoolchildren, their parents and teachers hold a protest after gunmen opened fire at a school, killing at least six children as authorities claim, in Kumba, Cameroon Oct. 25, 2020.
Schoolchildren, their parents and teachers hold a protest after gunmen opened fire at a school, killing at least six children as authorities claim, in Kumba, Cameroon Oct. 25, 2020.

Media reports say eleven teachers kidnapped Tuesday from two church-run English speaking schools in northern Cameroon were released late Thursday afternoon.

Unidentified assailants took the teachers hostage on Tuesday during a raid on the schools in the town of Kumbo. No one has claimed responsibility for the raid.

According to the Abadolu Agency, Samuel Fonki, head of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon, said no ransom was paid and that the church and teachers’ unions pressured their kidnappers to free them.

Kumbo is an area where the Cameroon government has been in an ongoing conflict with insurgent separatists who want to break away from the predominantly French-speaking country.

The kidnapping comes less than two weeks after unidentified gunmen raided a mostly English-speaking school in western Cameroon, killing seven children. So far, there has been no public confirmation of any arrests in connection with the school attacks.

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