U.S. missionary killed in Cameroon; rebel gunmen 'neutralized'

Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Cameroon's defense minister said Wednesday four separatists who shot and killed an American missionary were killed in a firefight with government troops.

In a statement, Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said the armed rebels were on the way to attack a military installation and college in Bambui, a town in northwestern Cameroon when they encountered missionary Charles Wesco and his family in another vehicle.

Officials said Wesco, a Baptist missionary from Indiana, was shot in the head and died in a local hospital. His wife and son were unharmed.

"Terrorists that killed the American missionary Charles Wesco in Bambui on Tuesday have been neutralized," Assomo said, adding that a Cameroon army lieutenant and student were injured.

Separatist leaders immediately discredited Assomo's statement, saying it was Cameroonian soldiers who killed Wesco during a fight with rebels.

Fighting between armed separatist groups and government forces has displaced more than 200,000 Cameroonians since October 2017, and killed at least 150 Cameroon soldiers. The separatists declared independence in two regions, forming a nation they call "Ambazonia."