By Tansa Musa and also Bate Felix
YAOUNDE/DAKAR Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:41pm EST
YAOUNDE/DAKAR (Reuters) - Islamist militants from border Nigeria abducted a French family members with seven, like four children, around north Cameroon on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said.
The risk connected with attacks upon French nationals plus pursuits in Africa has grown since France sent forces in to Mali previous month to help oust Islamist rebels occupying that nation's north.
"They (French family) were taken by way of terrorist team that we know that is certainly in Nigeria," Hollande shared with reporters by carrying out a visit in order to Greece.
The adult males on motorcycles, armed along with Kalashnikovs, intercepted your household for their car with 0700 GMT and also forced these individuals to generate for the nearby Nigerian border, an assist towards governor from the state told Reuters. The four-wheel-drive auto appeared to be later found abandoned.
Islamist radicals within northern Nigeria at this point present the best pressure to help stableness with Africa's prime oil-producing state.
Western governments are involved that Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists may perhaps connection upwards along with groups in other places in a very spot together with badly anchored borders, specifically al Qaeda's North African mentoring AQIM granted that conflict throughout regional Mali.
The seven French nationals have been abducted around Dabanga related to eight km (six miles) with the Nigerian border at the Waza countrywide park, where that they have invested that night within that serious north regarding Cameroon, a region exactly where Westerners often visit intended for holidays.
The father and mother in the family, which bundled two traders along with two young women as well as another relative, previously worked to get French utility organisation GDF Suez.
GDF, which will is setting up a new liquefied pure petrol undertaking inside southern region Cameroon, verified one of it is staff as well as his / her family ended up kidnapped whilst on holiday.
Cameroon state radio announced which witnesses claimed that three adults have been separated with the four young children along with Cameroonian defense makes were being started for the area.
It ended up being your initial circumstance regarding and also the being gripped in this typically Muslim north regarding Cameroon, a former French colony.
"I find the side of Boko Haram in that component of Cameroon. France is definitely in Mali, plus it will certainly continue until eventually its mission is usually completed," Hollande said.
France intervened in Mali very last month when Islamist rebels, once hijacking some sort of rebellion through cultural Tuareg MNLA separatists to seize handle involving the north inside the confusion carrying out a military coup, sent southwest towards the particular cash Bamako.
Eight French people happen to be currently being held inside West Africa's Sahel district by simply al Qaeda-affiliated groups.
"It shows which the fight against terrorist groups will be essential as they warned most of Africa," French foreign minister Laurent Fabius informed reporters.
"I feel you can find some sort of terrorist threat around a lot involving West Africa, so far as Cameroon," Fabius said.
France's overseas ministry released a new take a trip forewarning upon Tuesday advising it has the nationals to not traveling towards the severe north district with Cameroon in addition to people already generally there should receive precautionary measures along with abandon when possible.
TRACES OF BOKO HARAM
Cameroon is usually a generally secular state where 70 percentage with the human population is Christian in addition to related to twenty four percent average Muslim. Most Cameroon Muslims are now living the three northern regions in the country. Until now, firms no identified back links between Muslims within north Cameroon and Islamists around northern Nigeria .
Most kidnappings connected with Western nationals within the location are already determined by way of pirates working away from Cameroon's the southern part of Bakassi peninsula and the Gulf involving Guinea, although the French international ministry claims alongside almost all journey within the north.
Charles Gurdon, coping with overseer with Menas Associates, your London-based risk examination consultancy, mentioned there had recently been expanding considerations more than a possible spillover from Nigeria in to the north of Cameroon.
"Traces connected with . Boko Haram have been found (in Cameroon), nevertheless the Cameroon govt continues to be secretly trying to undermine the threat," he said.
On Sunday, seven foreigners were being seized from your mixture of Lebanese construction firm Setraco around upper Nigeria's Bauchi state, and also al Qaeda-linked Ansaru went on responsibility.
Northern Nigeria is definitely more and more seeking help with blasts and kidnappings by way of Islamist militants. Ansaru, that rose to be able to prominence only in recently available months, has additionally said the particular abduction inside December on the French nationwide who's however missing.
Ansaru claimed the abductions had been driven by "the atrocities carried out on the religion connected with Allah through the European states in lots of places, just like Afghanistan in addition to Mali."
Ansaru is thought to have unfastened scarves to Boko Haram, which will has killed plenty by carrying out a three-year-long insurgency targeted generally within the stability forces, religious locates and also politicians, as opposed to foreigners.
(Additional reporting by simply John Irish as well as Diadie Ba throughout Dakar, Jean-Baptiste Vey in Athens, Vicky Buffery, Alexandria Sage, Marion Douet plus Muriel Boselli with Paris; Writing by simply John Irish plus Bate Felix; Editing by means of Michael Roddy)
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