There has been fierce fighting between the military in Cameroon and Anglophone separatist rebels in the north-west.
Residents of the town of Esu say a gun battle lasted for six hours.
There are reports that the rebels later captured automatic weapons from a contingent of Cameroonian soldiers during an ambush and that municipal council offices were set on fire.
Correspondents say the rebels are trying to make the English-speaking areas of Cameroon ungovernable in an effort to force the government into peace talks.
The minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said the separatists were being wiped out and urged those he described as remnants to surrender.
