Thousands have fled a fresh flare-up of violence in Cameroon's separatist English-speaking regions in the past few days, a local security source and a government source said on Tuesday.

The army said separatists had attacked a police unit on Sunday in the northwestern town of Ndop, but did not mention any other incidents.

"The gendarmes who were attacked sought refuge in a nearby hair-dressing saloon," the army's spokesman said in a statement. "The bullets shot at them brutally killed two peaceful citizens and a baby."

The insurgency erupted in late 2017 following a government crackdown on peaceful protests in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions. Since then, fighting has killed about 1,800 people and displaced over 500,000, according to U.N. estimates.

The local security source, speaking on condition of anonymity said the latest fighting had killed at least 34 people and forced thousands from their homes.

A local government source said there had been killings every day, though he was not sure about the numbers of dead. He also said that thousands had been displaced. Both sources said it was not possible to give a more exact figure.

The authorities did not respond to requests for comment on the number of casualties or newly displaced people.