At least 11 students were injured on Wednesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on a university campus in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region of Southwest, according to witnesses and authorities.
The explosion in the University of Buea happened at about 3:30 p.m. local time in one of the classrooms where lecture was in progress.
“The lecture was going on and suddenly we heard a loud noise and students started running in all directions. There was a stampede and several students were injured. There was blood in and out of the classroom,” a student who was attending the lecture told Xinhua on phone but asked not to be named.
Ngomo Horace Manga, vice-chancellor of the state-run university said, the blast occurred just after a peace conference the university was organizing.
“Fortunately for us, the injuries are not serious. Those injured are one boy and 10 girls,” Manga told reporters after the explosion and added that all injured students have been taken to a local hospital to receive treatment.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
IEDs are regularly used in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest where an armed separatist conflict is in progress since 2017.
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