Armed men took three humanitarian workers, a Franco-Ivorian, a Senegalese and a Chadian, as well as two Cameroonian security guards.
Le Monde
Five Chadian, Senegalese, Franco-Ivorian and Cameroonian employees of doctors without borders (MSF) were kidnapped by armed men, Thursday, February 24, in the Cameroonian region of the Far North, where jihadist groups operate. “Armed men have introduced to MSF’s home” and “five members of our team were taken away” to Fotokol, at the border with Nigeria, where Jihadist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP , according to the acronym) regularly attack civilians and the military, said Friday MSF in an email at AFP, stating that “nor the identity or reasons for the authors are known to date”.
Three humanitarian workers, a Franco-Ivorian, a Senegalese and a Chadian, as well as two Cameroonian security guards have been abducted, confirmed a local administration to the AFP who requested anonymity. “Nothing allows you to link this act to the attacks of Boko Haram. We do not know if it’s a simple flight that went wrong. A safe has been opened,” he added, stating that the army is in their search. The Cameroonian authorities call indistinctly “Boko Haram” the group of the same name, originally from Nigeria, and its dissenting branch of the iSwap, which has allegedly alleged to the Islamic State (EI).
Fotokol, in the far north area, is near Lake Chad, vast expanse of water and swamps that extends its shores in four countries: Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria. Boko Haram and iSwap have installed their repair in some of the innumerable islands of which the lake is dotted. Jihadists regularly lead attacks against military and civilians in the four countries in this area. They have multiplied in recent months, the armed groups enjoying their knowledge of this marshy land.
The iSWAP is consolidating its hold
The BOKO HARAM insurrection appeared in 2009 in Nigeria, before spreading in neighboring countries. Since then, more than 36,000 people (mainly in Nigeria) have been killed and 3 million had to flee their home, according to the UN. The iSwap comes from a split of Boko Haram, in 2016, to whom he reproaches in particular the murder of Muslim civilians. In recent months, the ISWAP has consolidated its grip on the territories of Lake Chad after the death of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, in fighting between the two rivals groups.
In September 2019, six Cameroonian soldiers were killed near Fotokol after the attack on a military post by Boko Haram. In August 2021, at least 26 Chadian soldiers had been killed by jihadists in the Lake Chad area near the border with Cameroon. The activities of the two jihadist groups have led the countries of the zone to constitute a common military force, the Mixed Multinational Force (FMM), which associates the soldiers of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Six FMM soldiers, four Nigerians and two Nigerians, had died in December 2021 in the Lake Chad basin during a raking operation that also died on the jihadist side, according to the authorities.