'Al Qaeda of West Africa' gun-down two, kidnap 10 in Waza, Cameroon

The Nigerian Islamist extremist sect Boko Haram , once again strikes in the Northern part of Cameroon killing two and kidnapping 10 Chinese road construction workers.

According to Cameroon’s Far North region’s governor, Augustine Awa Fonka, the attack took place at the early hours of Saturday, May 17 when about 200 Boko Haram in a convoy of 15 vehicles attacked the camp of the workers killing a Chinese and a Cameroonian soldier.

It should be noted that the attacked took place as Cameroon President Paul Biya, and other African heads of state were in Paris, France to discuss how to combat the ‘Al Qaeda of West Africa’.

It is believed that the Boko Haram sophisticated weapons overshadowed that of the Cameroonian Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR and also in number as most of them had travelled to Yaoundé for the preparation of the May 20 celebrations. Boko Haram first kidnap incident in Cameroon was on February 19, 2013 when a French family was abducted in the town of Dabanga in Northern Cameroon.

Also, their second kidnapping in Cameroon occurred on November 13, 2013, when the suspected group members abducted French priest, Georges Vandenbeusch, from the Far North Cameroonian town of Koza. There had been rumours that these French nationals were released after their country had paid ransoms, but these allegations have been denied by the French government.

Meanwhile, in the summit in Paris, African leaders declared war on Boko Haram after it was brandished as “Al Qaeda of West Africa” by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Also, French President François Hollande called Boko Haram a “major threat to West and Central Africa” and promised French support.

The summit was attended by Nigeria, its neighbours - Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin - and Western officials in which they all agreed to flush out the ‘Al Qaeda of West Africa’.