Perfect Storm of Crises Rages in Cameroon, a Key US Anti-Terror Partner

Jihadism, a separatist war, coup plots, and a geriatric leader intent on self-preservation mean Cameroon is edging toward catastrophe, experts say.

A Cameroonian soldier (L) interacts with a U.S. soldier at a counter-terrorism training session during the Flintlock 2023 military training hosted by the International Counter-Terrorism Academy with U.S. Special Forces in Daboya, in the Savannah region of Ghana, on March 11, 2023. Nipah Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG—Cameroon, a key ally of the United States that is seeking to crush several global terrorist organizations that have declared jihad against it, could soon plunge into chaos on multiple fronts, endangering American interests in Africa, according to analysts.

In the former French colony’s far northern reaches, extremists whose allegiance is to ISIS are attacking state troops and villages, killing scores of people at a time, and abducting women and children.