Armed group kills 15 in overnight raid on Cameroon village, triggering mass displacement

Armed insurgents raided the village of Madegoua, near the town of Makary in Cameroon's Far North region, in the early hours of this week, pulling men from their homes and killing them. The death toll rose to 15 after two more victims died of their injuries at a hospital in Makary, up from an initial count of 13. Local authorities said the attackers targeted residents while they slept before withdrawing.

The assault triggered a wave of displacement from at least 10 nearby villages, with hundreds of people fleeing toward the towns of Kousseri, Mora and Waza near the Nigerian border. Many arrived with no food or means of security, adding pressure to communities already strained by years of instability in the region. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Cameroon's Far North region, which borders Nigeria and Chad, has for years faced violence from Boko Haram and other armed groups operating in the Lake Chad Basin. Security analysts believe one of these groups was likely responsible for the raid, which adds to a long pattern of attacks on civilians in the border area despite repeated military operations aimed at dislodging the insurgents.