Hundreds of Cameroonian women gathered in the capital this week to urge the government to stop the killings in the country's Anglophone separatist western regions. Weeks of violent clashes in those areas have left at least 70 people dead.
The event Thursday at the Yaounde conference center saw about 700 women from various cultural associations call for efforts to end fighting in the English-speaking regions.
Teacher Elizabeth Mankaa, who organized the groups, said most of the women have lost family members or belongings in battles between the military and separatists.
"The northwest and the southwest region are suffering, and we are here to cry like mothers so that the government should hear our cry and stop this crisis," she said. Cameroon's Ministry of Defense said in a statement that dozens of separatists have been killed within the past two weeks.
The Catholic dioceses in the regions said they counted at least 70 bodies, including those of civilians and military members. Mankaa said all of the victims were children of Cameroon, dying in what she described as a senseless war.