Yaounde:
Suspected Boko Haram rebels from Nigeria have attacked a Chinese work site in northern Cameroon, killing at least one Cameroonian soldier and at least 10 people are believed to have been abducted, the regional governor and Cameroon state radio said.
The Chinese embassy in Yaounde confirmed the attack on Friday at a site near the town on Waza, 20 km (12 miles) from the Nigerian border close to the Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold.
The Islamist group kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school on the Nigerian side of the border last month and Nigerian troops backed by foreign units are searching the area around the forest for them.
Friday's incident began when power was cut in the evening. A five-hour gunfight followed, a guard at the Waza National Park told Reuters.
"Some of us decided to hide in the forest with the animals," the guard said, requesting anonymity.
The governor of Cameroon's 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.
Cameroon state radio said a Cameroon special forces soldier was killed. It said four others including two soldiers were seriously wounded.
The assailants took away 10 vehicles, two trucks and a container of explosives belonging to the Chinese company, the radio said in a report from the region.
In a meeting in Paris on Saturday to improve cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram and other militant groups, French President Francois Hollande said it was becoming a threat to all of West and Central Africa
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 kidnapped a French family in February 2013.
VISITS SUSPENDED
The Chinese embassy suspended visits to the area.
"For companies 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.
Yan Chang Logone Development Holding Company, a subsidiary of China's Yanchang Petroleum, is exploring for oil.
Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, who is attending the Paris summit, said Boko Haram was becoming not only a regional problem, but also a Western one. Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were kidnapped in April.
"They have committed one more attack. They attacked businessmen and this comes after the French hostages were kidnapped. As we speak, we are searching for the Italian priests and Canadian nun," Biya said.
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 base for attacks in northeastern Nigeria.
Cameroon said in March it would send 700 soldiers to the border as part of regional efforts to tackle the armed group.
Outrage over the kidnapping of the schoolgirls has prompted Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, criticised at home for his government's slow response, to accept U.S., British and French intelligence help in the hunt for the girls.
The Chinese embassy in Yaounde confirmed the attack on Friday at a site near the town on Waza, 20 km (12 miles) from the Nigerian border close to the Sambisa forest, a Boko Haram stronghold.
The Islamist group kidnapped more than 200 girls from a school on the Nigerian side of the border last month and Nigerian troops backed by foreign units are searching the area around the forest for them.
Friday's incident began when power was cut in the evening. A five-hour gunfight followed, a guard at the Waza National Park told Reuters.
"Some of us decided to hide in the forest with the animals," the guard said, requesting anonymity.
The governor of Cameroon's 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.
Cameroon state radio said a Cameroon special forces soldier was killed. It said four others including two soldiers were seriously wounded.
The assailants took away 10 vehicles, two trucks and a container of explosives belonging to the Chinese company, the radio said in a report from the region.
In a meeting in Paris on Saturday to improve cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram and other militant groups, French President Francois Hollande said it was becoming a threat to all of West and Central Africa
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 kidnapped a French family in February 2013.
VISITS SUSPENDED
The Chinese embassy suspended visits to the area.
"For companies 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.
Yan Chang Logone Development Holding Company, a subsidiary of China's Yanchang Petroleum, is exploring for oil.
Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, who is attending the Paris summit, said Boko Haram was becoming not only a regional problem, but also a Western one. Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were kidnapped in April.
"They have committed one more attack. They attacked businessmen and this comes after the French hostages were kidnapped. As we speak, we are searching for the Italian priests and Canadian nun," Biya said.
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 base for attacks in northeastern Nigeria.
Cameroon said in March it would send 700 soldiers to the border as part of regional efforts to tackle the armed group.
Outrage over the kidnapping of the schoolgirls has prompted Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, criticised at home for his government's slow response, to accept U.S., British and French intelligence help in the hunt for the girls.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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