5 MSF Workers Abducted In Cameroon
The aid workers were kidnapped at their residence in Cameroon's Far North region close to the border with Nigeria in an overnight attack on Thursday.
Five aid workers with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders, a French medical charity, were abducted in Fotokol, Far North region of Cameroon.
The five, comprising three aid workers with Chadian, Senegalese, and French-Ivorian nationalities, and two Cameroonian security guards, were abducted on Thursday, Feb. 24, at a facility used by MSF in Fotokol near the border with Nigeria, AFP reported.
The kidnapping came a day after terrorists killed at least three people in the Far North region’s Ziler community, according to media reports.
The Far North borders Nigeria and Chad, where Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa (ISWAP) operate. However, no group has so far claimed responsibility for the abduction.
According to AFP, a local official cautioned that there was “no evidence” yet “to connect this incident to terrorist attacks.”
“We don’t know if it was a simple robbery that went wrong. A safe was opened,” he was quoted as saying.
“The identity and the motives of those behind it are unclear.”
A search and rescue operation is underway to secure the release of the hostages, according to the official.
Terrorists have targeted aid workers in the Lake Chad region since 2017 unabated despite an ongoing military campaign by the nations of the Lake Chad region.
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