Yaoundé — Cameroon’s restive Anglophone regions were in lockdown on Monday as separatists marked the first anniversary of a symbolic "independence" declaration just a week before a nationwide presidential poll. A 48-hour curfew was imposed on English-speaking towns in regions that have been rocked by deadly clashes sparked by the majority Francophone country’s sensitive linguistic divide. Gunfire was reported on Monday in the flashpoint town of Buea in the country’s southwest. In other English-speaking areas, shops were ordered to close, meetings of more than four people were banned and transport was suspended. Police killed 40 pro-Anglophone protesters on October 1, 2017, according to analysts at the International Crisis Group think-tank, which said "tens of thousands of demonstrators" took to the streets.
The worst-affected towns — Buea and Bamenda, the capital of the northwest region — were flooded with security forces, who arrested dozens of suspects following a symbolic "...
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