Cameroon 暴動 drains life from once vibrant towns
By Edward McAllister
EKONA, Cameroon, Oct 5 (Reuters) - A 部隊 of Cameroon's special 軍隊s 辛勝する／優位d up the winding main road of what used to be a 機能（する）／行事ing village, past the rusted 爆撃する of a burnt-out lorry 負担d with 粉砕するd beer 瓶／封じ込めるs, past an abandoned church and a shuttered 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業.
Ekona's thousands of 居住（者）s have fled fighting between the army and 分離主義者 民兵s in the 南西 地域 in 最近の weeks, leaving behind the only 証言 they could: squat, tin-roofed houses gutted by 解雇する／砲火／射撃, 力／強力にする lines strewn on overgrown 瀬戸際s and, above all, silence.
"It is weird. There used to be shops here, it used to be normal," said Captain Guy Herve Onambele, 調査するing the 難破 from his jeep 保護するd by 軍の トラックで運ぶs 十分な of 兵士s.
"The 分離主義者s used to come here and hide. A lot of people from the area joined the 脱退論者s."
Army 公式の／役人s 一般に 軽視する the 衝撃 that a year-old 武装した 脱退論者 暴動 has had in the English-speaking Northwest and 南西 地域s and say that an 不快な／攻撃 this year has 押し進めるd 支援する the 脅し. Yet on Thursday, 兵士s from Cameroon's 早い 介入 旅団 (BIR), 冒険的な 十分な 戦闘 gear, vigilantly scanned Ekona's 道端s for 脅しs, their (a)自動的な／(n)自動拳銃 ライフル銃／探して盗むs raised.
居住（者）s in the area are not 納得させるd either.
SHELTER
In the weeks 先行する Sunday's 大統領の 選挙s, towns and villages in the 地域 have been drained of life as thousands 捜し出す 避難所 in the French-speaking cities of Douala and Yaounde.
武装した 分離主義者s have 公約するd to stop the 選挙 in English-speaking areas, 潜在的に disenfranchising about one in five 投票者s and, ironically, helping 大統領 Paul Biya, who 長，率いるs a Francophone-支配するd 政府, 延長する his 36 years in 力／強力にする.
In the once 栄えるing city of Buea, 10 km (6 miles) from Ekona, most 蓄える／店s are の近くにd on the order of 分離主義者s who want to shut 負かす／撃墜する all activity in the regi on as part of their 企て，努力，提案 to 停止（させる） the 投票s there. Those that do not の近くに 危険 the 怒らせる of the 謀反のs.
The bus 駅／配置する, 普通は a busy 中心 for surrounding villages, is empty, its muddy lot filled with litter. 弾丸 casings are scattered at the scene of 最近の firefights. Old 解雇する／砲火／射撃s have scarred the tarmac of the now 静かな streets.
"You can see for yourself," said 29-year-old 着せる／賦与するs 販売人 Diale Florence in the Mile 16 area of Buea, gesturing at an 上昇傾向d car in a puddle, burnt white after an attack three weeks ago that the army says was orchestrated by 分離主義者s.
"Everyone has left."
"FRYING POPCORN"
Buea, the 南西 地域's spacious, green 資本／首都, sits on the eastern 側面に位置する of 開始する Cameroon, a 火山 which rises from the rubber and 白人指導者べったりの東洋人 農園s of the plains high above the dense treeline before 存在 lost in （犯罪の）一味s of lowering cloud.
The sight used to attract tourists from across the world. Then the Anlgophone 危機 攻撃する，衝突する. 抗議するs calling for better 治療 of the English-speaking 地域s by the French-speaking 大多数 in 2016 were shut 負かす／撃墜する by the 軍の. The movement became radicalised after 非軍事の deaths and 武装した groups calling for 分離 現れるd.
The 農園s are now emptied out, leaving 気が狂って to rot on the trees. Cassava, potatoes and corn are wasting unharvested in the farms, 地元の 居住（者）s said.
Since 2016, Buea's 全住民 has fallen from 200,000 people to about 10,000 today, said 地元の 伝統的な 長，指導者 Derick Woteva Wambo.
"The schools have been の近くにd for two years, the children are at home," said Wambo. That 含むs his seven-year-old daughter who is so used to the sound of 砲火 that she says it sounds like the 闘士，戦闘機s are "frying popcorn again".
Wambo has become accustomed to 暴力／激しさ too. At 6:30 on the morning of Sept. 27, he received a call 説 the 軍の had 発射 some 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd 分離主義者 闘士，戦闘機s in a nearby house. The army 否定するs this.
When he arrived an hour later, he entered the house to find six young men, one in a 議長，司会を務める, another 低迷d behind a door, all 発射 dead. A seventh man had been taken away, he said.
And yet, after a year of 外傷／ショック, he took in the scene with little emotion.
"For me it was normal," Wambo said. " I have seen this before." (報告（する）／憶測ing by Edward McAllister Editing by Giles Elgood)
