Suspected Boko Haram fighters kidnap around 80 in Cameroon

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters from Nigeria have kidnapped around 80 people, many of them children, and killed three others on Sunday in a cross-border attack on villages in northern Cameroon, army and government officials said.

A senior army officer deployed to northern Cameroon said the early morning attack had targeted the village of Mabass. Around 30 adults, mainly herders, and some 50 children aged between 10 and 15 years were taken by the assailants.

Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma confirmed the attack, in which he said three people had been killed, as well as the kidnappings, but was not able to say with certainty how many people had been taken in the raid.

(Reporting by Anne Mireille Nzouankeu and Bate Felix in Dakar; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/18/us-nigeria-violence-cameroon-idUSKBN0KR0R420150118

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YAOUNDE Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:53am EST

Short article. No more at link.

[Eugene]

1. Cameroon frees 24 hostages after suspected Boko Haram kidnapping

Source: Reuters

Cameroon frees 24 hostages after suspected Boko Haram kidnapping

YAOUNDE Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:59am EST

(Reuters) - Cameroon's army has freed 24 of some 80 hostages kidnapped during a cross-border attack by suspected Boko Haram Islamist fighters based in neighboring Nigeria, a defense ministry spokesman said on Monday.

The kidnapping, which occurred in the north of Cameroon on Sunday around the village of Mabass, was one of the largest abductions on Cameroonian soil. Many children were among the hostages.

"The Cameroon army was able to free about 24 hostages taken yesterday by Boko Haram in the far north. They were freed as defense forces pursued the attackers who were heading back to Nigeria," said ministry spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/19/us-nigeria-violence-cameroon-idUSKBN0KS13A20150119

[quadrature]

2. nobody seems to fight back... why is that? ...nt