French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged that France waged a war marked by “repressive violence” in Cameroon before and after the country’s independence in 1960 in a letter made public Tuesday. It is France’s first official acknowledgment of its repression of Cameroon's independence movement as a war.

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.

In a letter, President Emmanuel Macron cited a report by a joint French-Cameroonian team of historians, which clearly demonstrated that France had waged a 'war' in Cameroon, characterized by 'repressive violence.