Bouba Dobekreo | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 14, 1958 Menoua, West Region, French Cameroon (now Cameroon) |
| Allegiance |  Cameroon |
| Service | Rapid Intervention Battalion (1983-2015) Multinational Joint Task Force (2015-present) |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Unit | 5th Joint Military Region (2013, 2022-present) |
| Battles / wars | Boko Haram insurgency Anglophone Crisis |
Bouba Dobekreo is a Cameroonian general known for commanding Cameroonian forces in the Boko Haram insurgency and the Anglophone Crisis.
Dobekreo was born on February 14, 1958, in Menoua, West Region, French Cameroon. [1] He was admitted to the University of Yaoundé to study law and economics. [1]
Dobekreo graduated from the Yaounde Military School in 1983, subsequently attending several military academies across the world. [2] His first military command was as section chief of the 222nd Combat Company based in Bafoussam. [1] Much of Dobekreo's military career has been in the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR). [2] He was appointed as the second-in-command of the 3rd BIR in 2005, and then as commander of the 2nd BIR in 2009. [2] Between 2009 and 2010, Dobekreo commanded the 62nd Motorized Infantry Battalion based in Nkambé at the rank of colonel. He then led the BIR Training Center in Koutaba, leaving the position in 2015. [2] In 2013, Dobekreo commanded the 5th Joint Military Region based in Bamenda. [1]
On August 14, 2015, Dobekreo was appointed as the commander of the 1st Sector of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). A day prior to his appointment, he was promoted to Brigadier General. [3] [4] In the MNJTF, Dobekreo was known as an extremely successful commander. [5] [1] In April 2016, Dobekreo led an operation within the MNJTF that freed 2,000 hostages in the Lake Chad area. [6] That October, Dobekreo lauded Nigerien forces within the MNJTF for their success against Boko Haram. [7] In August 2022, Dobekreo received medals from MNJTF officials for participating and commanding Operation Integrite du Lac against Boko Haram in Lake Chad. [5] ActuCameroun stated that Dobekreo had killed over 800 Boko Haram fighters during his time as commander. [2]
In July 2022, Dobekreo was appointed again as the commander of the 5th Joint Military Region to combat the Anglophone Crisis. [8] Cameroonian president Paul Biya and Minister of Defense Joseph Beti Assomo believed that Dobekreo's appointment to the area would help combat the Red Dragons. [9] Ambazonian separatists claimed to have killed Dobekreo in February 2019 in Lebialem, but this turned out to be disproven. [9] Dobekreo had also conducted anti-poaching operations in Ndjidda, northern Cameroon, along with operations against Central African rebel groups. [2] He appeared at the National Day celebration on May 20, 2023, in Yaounde. [2]
The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) is a combined multinational formation, comprising units, mostly military, from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. It is headquartered in N'Djamena and is mandated to bring an end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
The Rapid Intervention Battalion is an elite military force and an army combat unit of the Cameroonian Armed Forces.
The Anglophone Crisis, also known as the Ambazonia War, is an ongoing armed conflict in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon, between the Cameroonian government and Ambazonian separatist groups, part of the long-standing Anglophone problem. Following the suppression of 2016–17 protests by Cameroonian authorities, separatists in the Anglophone regions launched a guerrilla campaign and later proclaimed independence. Within two months, the government of Cameroon declared war on the separatists and sent its army into the Anglophone regions.
The Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) are a military organization that fights for the independence of Ambazonia, a self-declared independent state in the Anglophone regions of the former Southern Cameroons, Cameroon. It was formally established by the Ambazonia Governing Council (AGovC) on 9 September 2017, the same day as the organization declared a war of independence.
The Chad Basin campaign of 2018–2020 was a series of battles and offensives in the southern Chad Basin, particularly northeastern Nigeria, which took place amid the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency. The Chad Basin witnessed an upsurge of insurgent activity from early November 2018, as rebels belonging to the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram launched offensives and several raids to regain military strength and seize territory in a renewed attempt to establish an Islamic state in the region. These attacks, especially those by ISWAP, met with considerable success and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The member states of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF), namely Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon responded to the increased insurgent activity with counter-offensives. These operations repulsed the rebels in many areas but failed to fully contain the insurgency.
From 2018, the Anglophone Crisis drew increasing international attention, and became a challenge to Cameroon's foreign relations. Triggered by a violent crackdown on the 2016–2017 Cameroonian protests, the conflict escalated from a low-scale insurgency to a civil war-like situation. While Cameroon enjoys support from African countries, no country has openly supported the Ambazonian independence movements. However, many countries have put pressure on Cameroon to talk to the separatists. In addition, the separatists enjoy support from officers in the Nigerian Army, who have helped arrange arms deals for them.
Lekeaka Oliver, popularly known as Field Marshall, was a Cameroonian army soldier and later an Ambazonian separatist commander and the leader of the Red Dragon militia. His armed group is part of the loosely-structured Ambazonia Self-Defence Council, and is loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia. The Red Dragon is mainly active in Lebialem Division, Southwest Region. Oliver was the brother of Chris Anu, former Secretary for Communications of the Interim Government. Throughout his time as a separatist leader, Cameroonian forces erroneously reported that he had been killed three times. He was killed on 12 July 2022, though it remains unclear whether he was killed by Cameroonian forces or in an incident of separatist infighting.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon during 2020.
Brig. Gen. Valere Nka is a Cameroonian general who has commanded Cameroonian soldiers in the Boko Haram insurgency and the Anglophone Crisis. He has also served as Defence Attaché to Nigeria.
Operation Bamenda Clean is an ongoing Cameroonian special counter-insurgency operation in Bamenda, Northwest Region, aimed at preventing armed Ambazonian separatists from operating in the city. By January 2021, Cameroon was gradually achieving what a security analyst at the University of Yaoundé called "relative peace" in Bamenda, and the mayor of the city stated that the operation was succeeding. However, as of March 2021, separatist-imposed ghost towns remained widely respected by the local population, and separatists controlled most roads leading in and out of Bamenda.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon during 2021.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon during 2022.
Clement Mbashie, better known by his nom de guerre "General No Pity", is an Ambazonian separatist who commands several militant groups, most importantly the Bambalang Marine Forces and Bui Unity Warriors, in the Anglophone Crisis.
Events in the year 2022 in Cameroon.
This is a timeline of the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon during 2023.
Operation Bui Clean, also called Operation Kumbo Clean or Operation Clean Kumbo, was a military offensive conducted by the Cameroon Armed Forces against Ambazonian separatists in Cameroon's Northwest Region from May to June 2021. The operation took place in the context of the Anglophone Crisis.
The Battle of Darak, also called the Darak massacre, occurred on June 9, 2019, when Boko Haram fighters loyal to Abubakar Shekau attacked a Cameroonian and MNJTF military base in Darak, Far North Region. The attack was the deadliest in Cameroonian history since the start of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Joseph Beti Assomo is a Cameroonian politician who has served as the Minister of Defense of Cameroon since 2015. Assomo also served as the governor of Far North Region between 2010 and 2012 and Littoral Region between 2012 and 2015.
On early 10 April 2024, Ambazonian separatist rebels of the Bui Unity Warriors attacked the base of the Cameroonian Rapid Intervention Battalion in Kumbo, resulting a battle that lasted for hours. Several insurgents and at least one Cameroonian soldier were killed. After the rebel main force had retreated from the town, Cameroonian security forces conducted raids and revenge attacks in and around Kumbo in response to the initial attack. News sites reported that civilians were among those killed by the soldiers, though this was denied by the local military leadership.