The Cameroonian army on Friday denied its troops were responsible for alleged atrocities against separatists in English-speaking regions after unverified footage apparently involving soldiers was posted online.

"These accusations of atrocities are dreamt up. We are victims of disinformation and fake news," army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck told AFP, just days after the appearance of the latest of a string of grisly video clips.

None of the clips could be independently verified by AFP, with Badjeck insisting the army had "a culture of respect for human rights" and accusing the separatists of being "skilled at disinformation".

Since October, troops have staged a crackdown targeting activists in Cameroon's restive western regions where the English-speaking minority has staged protests against the government in this predominantly francophone country.

Dozens of people have died. Official figures, though, refer to the 23 police and soldiers killed but do not provide a detailed count for civilian or separatist casualties.

In the absence of any formal acknowledgement of the toll among separatists, eyewitness accounts of brutality against civilians have proliferated on social media and in parts of the press.

On Wednesday, the European Union condemned the violence in Cameroon, referring to the recent deaths of three members of the security forces and a number of civilians as "unacceptable" and calling on the police and army to exercise restraint.

"It remains crucial for the security forces to be proportionate in their use of force while carrying out their duties," it said in a statement which followed similar condemnation from the US State Department a day earlier.

But the Cameroon army spokesman said they were at risk of falling foul of a campaign of disinformation.

"It's important that the bodies with which we maintain good relations don't just listen to one side," he said.

- 'We are harassed' -

Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest Regions are home to an anglophone minority that accounts for about a fifth of the country's population and which has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the French-speaking majority.

In October, separatists issued a symbolic declaration of independence for the putative state of Ambazonia, prompting a crackdown by a government firmly opposed to secession.

Anglophone separatists have responded by escalating their own operations against state institutions. The spiralling violence has forced an estimated 30,000 Cameroonians to flee to neighbouring Nigeria.

Badjeck said a soldier had died on Thursday after being stabbed in the eye with a knife in the main western town of Bamenda, with his death raising the toll among the police and security forces to 23.

"Our soldiers are struck down every day. We are harassed. It may happen that there are reactions on the ground, that a soldier loses his self-control. But it hasn't happened yet," he said.

And last weekend, at least four civilians were shot dead by troops during several incidents in the Northwest Region, witnesses said. One told AFP that men "in military uniform came and started smashing up houses."

Maldives' resistance figures fight back on social media
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 6, 2018 - As security forces surrounded his home shortly after a state of emergency had been declared in the Maldives, 80-year-old ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom deftly hit social media to tell the world of his impending arrest.

The government quickly sought to control the flow of information out of the famed Indian Ocean holiday islands following its declaration late Monday night, according to local media outlets and the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international watchdog.

However, Gayoom, opposition politicians and even the Supreme Court gave a blow-by-blow account of the dramatic events via Twitter, Periscope and other social media platforms.

Moments after posting a tweet stating that "a large number" of police had converged on his home, Gayoom calmly delivered a live video message that was aired by an opposition politician on her Periscope account.

"Right now, police are here to arrest me. I remain steadfast in my resolve," Gayoom said in a quiet voice.

"I don't know what charges they have against me. I have not done anything to be arrested. I urge you to remain steadfast in your resolve too," he added.

"We will not give up on the reform work we are doing. I wish all Maldivians success. Remain courageous and I pray Allah almighty to direct us to the right path."

When the Maldives' top judge was arrested on Tuesday, officials from the Supreme Court similarly fought back via social media.

"BREAKING NEWS: THE NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCES OF THE MALDIVES HAVE BROKEN INTO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE MALDIVES," said a post on @judiciarymv, the official account of the country's top court.

After authorities detained Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another Supreme Court judge, it was unclear who had control of the account.

"This is to inform that the Supreme Court of the Maldives continues to function under the guidance of the Judicial Council," another tweet on the account said.

- 'Attack' on the press -

Since coming to power in 2013, President Abdulla Yameen has presided over an escalating crackdown on dissent that has battered the image of the nation and left almost all the political opposition jailed.

The Supreme Court's shock decision last week to order the release of political dissidents and quash the conviction of exiled opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed, among others, sparked the crisis.

Gayoom, president for 30 years until the country's first democratic elections in 2008 and Yameen's estranged half brother, was detained after he sided with the opposition.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists released a statement after the state of emergency was declared condemning what it said was a government "attack" on the press.

"Authorities in the Maldives must immediately stop trying to exert control over the media and access to information," Steven Butler, the CPJ's Asia programme coordinator, said in a statement.

"The Maldives should abide by its constitutional commitment to the freedom of speech."

The Maldives Broadcasting Commission warned media outlets last week they could be shut down if they were deemed a threat to national security, according to the CPJ.

Twenty-four-hour news channel RaajjeTV said Tuesday on Twitter it indeed feared such a fate.

"RaajjeTV shutdown... imminent. Will continue to work for the people of the Maldives till the last minute," it tweeted. "We have no security."

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African Union head calls China spying report 'lies'
Beijing (AFP) Feb 8, 2018
The African Union's chairman dismissed during a visit to Beijing on Thursday a French newspaper report alleging that China had spied on the continental body as "lies" intended to derail cooperation. The report published by Le Monde in January claimed technicians at the AU's Chinese-built headquarters in the Ethiopian capital discovered last year that the contents of their computers had been regularly copied to servers in Shanghai since 2012, citing unnamed AU sources. "I don't see it is in the i ... read more