The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council says the humanitarian situation has become dire in parts of Cameroon amid a two-year conflict between separatists and government forces.

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the organization, said Thursday that tens of thousands in Cameroon's English-speaking areas are living in the bush — too afraid to return home or to seek refuge in major towns.

Separatists who complain that Cameroon's English-speaking regions are marginalized by the government have been waging an insurgency since 2017.

President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, has branded the separatists as terrorists.

Egeland said many of the people he spoke with this week had fled after their villages were attacked at night. Often people didn't know whether the violence was caused by military or rebels.