Cameroon's warring parties agree to peace process, says Canada

The government of Cameroon and some separatist factions in the country's English-speaking regions have agreed to a process aimed at resolving a conflict that has killed more than 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 Mélanie Joly, said on Friday.

Canada accepted a mandate to facilitate the process and the parties have agreed to form technical committees to begin work on confidence-building measures, Joly added.

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.

A 2019 national dialogue that granted special status to the anglophone regions failed to resolve the conflict which has escalated. Nearly 800,000 people have been displaced and 600,000 children do not have full access to education, Canada said.

A spokesperson for government did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Saturday while the separatist factions could not be reached for comment.