Ongoing concern ... a protest march from the Nigerian High Commission to Downing Street in London, Saturday, May 17, 2014, calls for the return of schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria. Picture: Jonathan BradySource: AP
A CHINESE national has been killed and 10 others are feared kidnapped after an attack in northern Cameroon believed to have been carried out by Boko Haram militants from Nigeria.
“Boko Haram Islamists attacked a camp (of road workers). A Chinese was killed. Ten Chinese cannot be found since the attack. We think they have probably been kidnapped,” a local police chief said on condition of anonymity.
The cross-border attack comes as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was in Paris for a meeting with the leaders of neighbouring states on forging a regional strategy against the Islamist group.
A source close to the Chinese embassy in Yaounde spoke of 10 missing and one wounded, but would not confirm or deny whether one Chinese worker had been killed.
Border incursions ... a link bridge connecting Nigeria and Cameroon was destroyed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on May 5. Source: AFP
“Cameroonian soldiers retaliated and the fighting lasted until 3am (local time),” the officer said.
“The Boko Haram militants were heavily armed. They came in five vehicles,” an official in Waza, near the site of the attack in a northern Cameroonian region near the Nigerian border, said on condition of anonymity.
He said the camp where the Chinese road workers stayed was usually guarded by soldiers from Cameroon’s elite Rapid Intervention Battalion.
Strategy ... Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan at the Parisian summit on Nigerian security. Picture: Francois Mori Source:AP
“Their numbers were thinner these past few days because many of them had gone down to Yaounde” for the traditional military parade marking National Day on May 20, the official said.
The police officer said the militants also attacked the police post in Waza overnight and raided its armoury.
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