Family of 7 kidnapped. A report posted today at NBC News says a family of 7, including 4 children, has been kidnapped while vacationing in Africa. Sources say the family was taken from a small village near Nigeria.
French President Francois Hollande says the family had been "taken by a terrorist group that we know and that is in Nigeria." Risk of attacks on French nationals and interests in Africa has risen since France sent forces into Mali last month in an effort to help oust Islamist rebels occupying the country's north.
The family of 7 tourists were kidnapped around 7 a.m. in a village about six miles from the Nigerian border near the Waza national park and Lake Chad in the extreme north of Cameroon where Westerners often go for holidays.
"I see the hand of (Nigerian militants) Boko Haram in that part of Cameroon. France is in Mali, and it will continue until its mission is completed," Hollande said.
Kidnappings and attacks at the hand of Islamist militants has increased in Northern Nigeria, and one group, Ansaru, which rose to prominence in recent months claimed the abduction of a French national back in December. That person is still missing.
Ansaru released a statement saying kidnappings were driven by "the transgression and atrocities done to the religion of Allah by the European countries in many places, such as Afghanistan and Mali."
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