Ten Chinese
construction workers were abducted in Cameroon on Friday when Boko Haram
insurgents attacked a construction site in northern part of the country.
The Chinese
embassy in Yaounde confirmed the attack at a site near the town on Waza, 20 km,
about 12 miles, from the Nigerian border, close to Sambisa forest.
According to
a guard at the Waza National Park, the incident began when power was cut on
Friday evening.
“Some of us
decided to hide in the forest with the animals,” the guard said.
The governor
of Far North region, Augustine Fonka Awa, said he believed Boko Haram had
carried out the attack. Authorities are investigating reports that at least one
Cameroon soldier was killed and 10 people were abducted, he said.
The Chinese’s
news agency, Xinhua, quoted Chinese officials as saying one person was injured.
“Four
companies are operating in the northern part of Cameroon in particular; they
should instantly start security contingency plans,” the embassy said in a
statement.
At least two
Chinese enterprises operate in the region. Xinhua said an engineering unit of
state-run construction company, Sinohydro, which is repairing roads, operated
the camp, while Yan Chang Logone Development Holding Company, a subsidiary of
China’s Yanchang Petroleum, is exploring for oil there.
Boko Haram
has staged several attacks in northern Cameroon during its five-year fight to
set up an Islamist state. Last month, it attacked a police post killing two
people. The rebels also kidnapped a French family in February 2013.
Nigerian
authorities say Cameroon has not done enough to secure its border because Boko
Haram has been using the sparsely populated Far North region as a transit route
for weapons and as a rear base for attacks in northeastern Nigeria.
Cameroon said
in March it would send 700 soldiers to its northeastern border as part of
regional efforts to tackle the armed group.
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