France’s President Emmanuel Macron has formally recognised what he called France’s “repressive violence” in Cameroon during and after the country’s fight for independence in the late 1950s – a rare admission of a long-overlooked part of France’s colonial history.

French President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged the violence committed by his country's forces in Cameroon during and after the Central African nation's struggle for independence. It followed a joint report by Cameroonian and French historians examining France's suppression of independence movements from 1945 to 1971.

France acknowledges violent repression in Cameroon pre and post-independence, marking its first official acknowledgment of the war.