Asymmetric Warfare in Contemporary Africa: The Case of the Anglophone Secessionist Struggle in Cameroon

Abstract

The use of asymmetric warfare has become a common phenomenon in 21st century African conflicts. The Anglophone secessionist struggle in Cameroon which poses a security threat in the Lake Chad Basin appears to be a perfect footprint of a new wave of Asymmetric warfare in recent times. Since 2016, the resistance against the state of Cameroon by Anglophone separatists has taken a more violent twist especially with the emergence of localized armed militia groups and rebel leaders. This paper brings to the lamplight, and upholds the fact that the separatist militia groups operate as an asymmetric army or insurgents, through the use of unconventional means, and in total disregard to the international rules of war outlined in the Geneva Convention. Their struggle is related to the desire to create an independent country called "Ambazonia". The struggle has metamorphosed into a full-blown asymmetric warfare, fought using guerilla tactics and operations including: ambush on government security forces, acts of sabotage against the state, assassinations, abductions, beheading of soldiers, body mutilations, damaging of infrastructure, civil disobedience, among other asymmetric features. The findings in this paper reveal that for long lasting peace to be achieved in Cameroon, military option needs to be abandoned for a peaceful resolution, and international mediation remains necessary.