A family of seven from France has been kidnapped in Camaroon. The Associated Press reported that the family which includes four children have been taken in northern Camaroon, with officials suggesting with the involvement of a Nigerian Islamic extremist sect.
The Guardian reported that the children who were kidnapped were ages four, seven, nine and 11.
Helicopters are on the search for the missing family from France who were visiting Camaroon on vacation.
"The three adult tourists and four children were picked up early today (Tuesday) morning by men riding on motorbikes who rode off toward the border into Nigeria," the Far North Regional Delegate in the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, Jean-David Ndjigba told the AP. "As I speak to you right now, helicopters are flying over the entire province, and specifically in the administrative area of Waza in search of the kidnapped tourists."
Ndjigba added to the AP that a vehicle that were being used by the family has been found on the border close to Nigeria. Waza Park is a popular area for tourists given its natural wildlife and beautiful surrounds but the AP reported that it is often an area raided by bandits in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria who kidnap people for ransom.
The AP reported that a man who chose to remain anonymous said he saw the French family's car get stuck in the sand near Dabanga and a group of armed men drove by them on their motorcycles and forced them by gunpoint to leave their car and took them hostage, even though there was a crowd watching the scene happen.
"Nobody could help the white men because the kidnappers were heavily armed and they threatened to shoot anyone that approached," said the onlooker to the AP.
The Guardian reports that the French government is blaming Islamist militants from Nigeria for the kidnapping.
French president Francois Holland said to The Guardian, "I see the hand of [Nigerian militants] Boko Haram in that part of Cameroon."
There has been heightened concern for kidnappings in the area. There are currently eight French citizens who are being held hostage in the Sahel region of West Africa by a group affiliated with al-Qaida, reports The Guardian.
"If everything is confirmed, this signifies that the fight against terrorist groups is a necessity," the foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said in Paris according to The Guardian. "There is a battle to be led by the international community against terrorist groups and narco-terrorists."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
