By Tansa Musa plus Bate Felix
YAOUNDE/DAKAR Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:41pm EST
YAOUNDE/DAKAR (Reuters) - Islamist militants from nearby Nigeria abducted your French friends and family with seven, including three children, in upper Cameroon on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said.
The possibility connected with violence on French nationals and likes and dislikes throughout Africa has gone up considering France directed aids directly into Mali last four week period to help you oust Islamist rebels occupying your country's north.
"They (French family) have been consumed by simply some sort of terrorist collection that marilyn and i understand and that is inside Nigeria," Hollande explained to reporters within a visit that will Greece.
The guys on motorcycles, armed with Kalashnikovs, intercepted your spouse and children into their auto at 0700 GMT along with pushed them to be able to push into the regional Nigerian border, a great help to the governor belonging to the province told Reuters. The four-wheel-drive motor vehicle was subsequently observed abandoned.
Islamist radicals with north Nigeria today present the most important danger to help firmness in Africa's top oil-producing state.
Western authorities are involved in which Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists might connection upwards using categories elsewhere in the place having inadequately secured borders, especially al Qaeda's North African mentorship AQIM provided the particular struggle with in the area Mali.
The seven French nationals were abducted within Dabanga with regards to 10 km (six miles) from the Nigerian national boundaries near the Waza nation's park, wherever many people have spent that evening within the extreme north connected with Cameroon, a region where Westerners usually select holidays.
The mother and father from the family, which often included two boys in addition to not one but two young women together with yet another relative, worked intended for French electricity firm GDF Suez.
GDF, and that is building your liquefied organic energy undertaking with south Cameroon, tested probably its employees along with his household had been kidnapped although on holiday.
Cameroon state the airwaves noted that witnesses mentioned this several parents had been separated in the four children and Cameroonian defense aids had been recently stationed into the area.
It has been the first situation with foreigners staying arrested while in the mostly Muslim north regarding Cameroon, a former French colony.
"I discover this hand connected with Boko Haram in this section of Cameroon. France is inside Mali, and it will certainly proceed until finally their objective is completed," Hollande said.
France intervened in Mali last thirty days whenever Islamist rebels, following hijacking a rebellion by simply cultural Tuareg MNLA separatists to be able to catch manipulate from the north in the misunderstandings adhering to a army coup, pressed south towards the capital Bamako.
Eight French citizens have probably always been becoming placed around West Africa's Sahel location by way of al Qaeda-affiliated groups.
"It displays how the fight against terrorist groupings is a demand as they warned most associated with Africa," French international minister Laurent Fabius told reporters.
"I imagine you will find there's terrorist menace around much of West Africa, as far as Cameroon," Fabius said.
France's foreign ministry issued your journey warning on Tuesday counseling it is nationals not to travel to help that severe north location involving Cameroon and those people witout a doubt generally there must consider precautionary options as well as get away from when possible.
TRACES OF BOKO HARAM
Cameroon is often a mostly secular state exactly where seventy percent in the human population are Christian and regarding twenty-four percent reasonable Muslim. Most Cameroon Muslims have the actual three northern regions with the country. Until now, firms no regarded links somewhere between Muslims in north Cameroon and Islamists inside upper Nigeria.
Most kidnappings involving Western nationals from the place are actually fully commited by means of pirates operating down Cameroon's southern Bakassi peninsula as well as the Gulf with Guinea, though the French foreign ministry recommends against almost all travel in the north.
Charles Gurdon, controlling director of Menas Associates, a London-based possibility research consultancy, explained right now there had been developing problems above a likely spillover from Nigeria into the north of Cameroon.
"Traces involving . Boko Haram had recently been found out (in Cameroon), even so the Cameroon federal has been covertly trying in order to weaken the actual threat," he or she said.
On Sunday, seven increasing were grabbed from your composite connected with Lebanese construction provider Setraco throughout north Nigeria's Bauchi state, along with al Qaeda-linked Ansaru needed responsibility.
Northern Nigeria will be more and more effected by blasts in addition to kidnappings by Islamist militants. Ansaru, which rose for you to dominance solely within latest months, has additionally believed the abduction in December of any French countrywide who is however missing.
Ansaru reported that abductions have been tempted by simply "the atrocities done towards the religion associated with Allah by the particular European locations in numerous places, like as Afghanistan and Mali."
Ansaru is definitely thought to acquire loose ties to be able to Boko Haram, which usually possesses put to sleep thousands by carrying out a three-year-long insurgency aimed mostly within the stability forces, non secular targets plus politicians, in lieu of foreigners.
(Additional confirming through John Irish plus Diadie Ba with Dakar, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Athens, Vicky Buffery, Alexandria Sage, Marion Douet as well as Muriel Boselli around Paris; Writing by John Irish and Bate Felix; Editing by Michael Roddy)
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