Three soldiers have been charged with murder in the Ngarbuh village massacre in western Cameroon, where at least 23 civilians were killed during an operation against Anglophone separatist forces in February.

"The three Cameroonian soldiers have been placed in provisional detention in Yaounde military prison," army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo told AFP news agency, adding that they had been charged with murder.

The investigation prompted the government to do a U-turn: the soldiers were arrested and put before a military tribunal accused of killing at least three women and 10 children with the help of a local vigilante committee.

In addition to being charged with the murder, the three soldiers are also accused of disobeying orders, destruction of property and arson, the army said on Thursday.

The government has clamped down on Anglophone separatists and close to 2,000 people have been killed and over 500,000 displaced, according to the United Nations.