There appears to be no end in sight to assaults at anytime, anyplace and against just about anyone, from the new era of heavily armed and well organized terrorists, as seen with the recent kidnapping of a French family in Cameroon. Today, Feb. 19, 2013, Tansa Musa and Bate Felix have reported for Reuters, Militants kidnap French family in north Cameroon. French President Francois Hollande has said that Islamist militants from neighboring Nigeria have abducted a French family of seven, including four children, in northern Cameroon on Tuesday.
There has been an increase in the risk of attacks on French nationals and interests in Africa ever since France sent forces into Mali last month in order to help oust Islamist rebels who are occupying the country's north. Hollande told reporters during a visit to Greece, "They (French family) have been taken by a terrorist group that we know and that is in Nigeria." The kidnappers, who were on motorcycles and armed with Kalashnikovs, intercepted the family in their car and forced them to drive to the nearby Nigerian border. Their four- wheel-drive vehicle was later found to be abandoned.
Angelique Chrisafis has also reported on this story for the Guardian, France blames Islamists as family kidnapped in Cameroon. The French family, who lived in Yaoundé, were captured at about 7am in a village six miles from the Nigerian border, near the Waza national park and Lake Chad, which are seen as popular holiday destinations for westerners. This is the first case of foreigners being seized in the north of Cameroon, which is a former French colony. French officials have appealed for the kidnappers to act in a responsible manner towards the children. French president François Hollande has said, "I see the hand of Nigerian militants Boko Haram in that part of Cameroon."
