He fought in a separatist rebel group that burned schools. Now he’s a teacher emphasizing peace

DSCHANG, Cameroon (AP) — In a classroom nestled in Cameroon’s lush highlands, a former rebel fighter teaches logic and philosophy. His students know him as calm and thoughtful, but his past tells a more turbulent story.

For a year and a half, Ateasong Belts Tajoah fought with the Red Dragons, a separatist militia in the country’s conflict-ridden southwest. He joined the movement in 2017 at age 23 after local fighters came to his village and offered a chance to turn his frustrations with the government into action.

Like many in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon, he felt marginalized by the government dominated by the French-speaking population. Those tensions, beginning with peaceful

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