YAOUNDE, Nov. 24 -- Two separatist fighters, including a commander, were killed when government forces of Cameroon struck their hideout early on Sunday in the country's war-torn Anglophone region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.

The crackdown, as confirmed by a military official in the region who requested not to be named, was launched in the early hours of Sunday in Bamenda, chief town of the region.

The commander killed in the operation "regularly kidnapped civilians and demanded huge ransom. He was responsible for the deaths of many soldiers and civilians," the official told Xinhua by phone.

Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.

  - Xinhua