Three US citizens of Cameroonian origin have been indicted for purportedly supporting and funding separatist fighters in their home country since 2018, the US Justice Department has said.
The indicted men, all over 40, are said to be residents of Missouri, Minnesota, and New York states, respectively.
“Three defendants were arrested today and made their initial court appearances in connection with an indictment, unsealed today, charging them for their roles in a conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a conspiracy to kidnap persons and use weapons of mass destruction in a foreign country,” the statement said.
The defendants allegedly raised funds for equipment, supplies, explosive materials and weapons that were used in attacks against Cameroon’s security forces. The money was gathered via the internet, specifically through online chat applications or payment platforms from people living in the US and other countries. According to the Justice Department, they managed to congregate more than $350,000 through voluntary donations.
The DOJ likewise accused the men of the Central African nation of being involved in a conspiracy to kidnap in Cameroon for ransom. The payments were later supposedly transferred to the fighters to fund their military activities.
"In some instances, US citizens were extorted for ransom payments to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives living in Cameroon," read the statement.
The men reportedly held senior positions in an organization that supports and directs the Ambazonian Restoration Forces, a separatist militant group that opposes the Cameroonian government fighting against it, and other militants in the northwest of the country.
The Central African state is a mainly French-speaking country with an English-speaking minority that has long blamed the government for its marginalization. The Anglophones in southwest and northwest Cameroon, a former British colony that was united with French Cameroon in 1961, make up approximately 20% of the population.
In 2017, after the suppression of the protests that followed the appointment of Francophone judges in English-speaking areas, the fighters - who seek independence for the country’s minority Anglophone regions - launched an armed campaign against the Cameroonian military. Subsequently, the separatists unilaterally proclaimed the independence of the regions, declaring a breakaway state called Ambazonia, which as of now hasn't been recognized by any country. The government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its troops into the rebel-controlled regions.
According to Human Rights Watch’s report, at least 4,000 civilians have been killed and more than 700,000 internally displaced during the conflict since late 2016.