Canada says Cameroon warring parties agree to enter peace process

21/1/2023 18:36

        The government of Cameroon and some separatist factions in the English-speaking regions of the country have agreed to enter into a process aimed at resolving a conflict that has killed over 6,000 people, Canada's foreign ministry said.
        
        "Canada welcomes the agreement by the parties to enter a process to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of the conflict," foreign minister Melanie Joly, said in a statement on Friday.
        
        The statement said Canada had accepted a mandate to facilitate the process and the parties have agreed to form technical committees to begin work on confidence-building measures.
        
        The armed conflict, which began in 2017, stems from a perceived marginalisation of Cameroon's English-speaking community by the French-speaking majority in the central African state.
        
        Since then, factions of secessionist militias have been battling government troops in the two English-speaking regions in an attempt to form a breakaway state called Ambazonia.