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Cameroon

Border countries: Nigeria

Cameroon is engaging in a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) against Boko Haram in the Far North. In the Northwest and Southwest regions, a number of Anglophone separatist groups are fighting against the government for the independence of the region. Nevertheless, the violence does not amount to a NIAC.

  • Cameroon is engaged in a NIAC against Boko Haram in the Far North region. Vigilante groups are also fighting against the non-state actor. However, they are not party to the conflict because they do not meet the organization requirement.
  • Since late 2017, the Cameroon’s armed forces, including an elite combat unit Rapid Intervention Battalion (RIB), have been involved in armed confrontations against a number of separatist groups operating in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, in particular the the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGC) and its military wing (the Ambazonia Defense Forces, ADF) and the Interim Government of Ambazonia (IG) and its military wing (the Ambazonia Self-Defence Council, ASC), among others. However, the situation does not meet the threshold required by IHL to be considered a NIAC.
  • Cameroon is party to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which has been supporting the Nigerian Government in the fight against Boko Haram since 2015. Since January 2015, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has been supporting the Nigerian Government in the fight against Boko Haram. The MNJTF is composed of units from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin. See Communiqué of the 484th Meeting of the PSC on the Boko Haram Terrorist Group, 29 January 2015 [PSC/AHG/COMM. 2(CDLXXXIV)], which authorized the deployment of the MNJTF.
Last updated: Thursday 21st January 2021