Cameroon forces 'massacred civilians' - rights group

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Cameroonian forces of killing at least 21 civilians - including 13 children and one pregnant woman - in an attack in the country's troubled Anglophone region.

HRW alleges that government forces along with Fulani militias stormed the village of Ngarbuh on 14 February. It is calling for an independent investigation into the killings as is the UN, which called them a "shocking episode".

An eyewitness who escaped the attack by running into the bush told BBC Newsday that he returned to find that victims had been shot and their bodies burnt, then dumped in at least three mass graves. He said other survivors saw the attackers, describing them as "wearing military uniforms".

Cameroon's government denies allegations that the military was behind the attack in Ngarbuh. It said just five civilians were killed following an explosion resulting from the fire between separatist fighters and government soldiers.

For the past three years, government forces have been fighting separatists in the Anglophone regions who want to create a breakaway state called "Ambazonia".

The fighting has so far left at least 3,000 people dead and forced more than 700,000 people from their homes, according to UN data.