'Boko Haram' abducts Cameroon politician's wife

BBC NEWS

The Cameroonian military says members of Nigerian militant group Boko Haram have abducted the wife of the country's deputy prime minister in the north.

The wife of Amadou Ali and her maid were taken in the town of Kolofata near the Nigerian border on Sunday, it adds.

A local religious leader, who is also town mayor, was also kidnapped in a separate attack in the same town.

Boko Haram has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon in recent weeks, as the army was deployed to the region.

Militants have kidnapped foreign nationals in northern Cameroon before, including a French family and Chinese workers.

'Critical situation'

The home of Deputy Prime Minister Amadou Ali "came under a savage attack from Boko Haram militants," Information Minister Issa Tchiroma told Reuters on Sunday.

French Catholic priest Georges Vandenbeusch was taken hostage in northern Cameroon and released over a month later

But the minister, who was breaking his fast for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at the time of the attack, managed to escape to a neighbouring town, regional commander Col Feliz Nji Formekong told the news agency.

"The situation is very critical here now, and as I am talking to you, the Boko Haram elements are still in Kolofata town in a clash with our soldiers," he added.

Local leader Seini Boukar Lamine and his family were also abducted in a separate attack on his home.

Cameroon's long and porous border with Nigeria means Boko Haram fighters can come and go at will, attacking police stations and villages, and spreading terror throughout the region, says BBC Africa editor Mary Harper.

Boko Haram loosely translates as "Western education is forbidden"

The group has attacked Cameroon three times in as many days in the past week, killing at least four soldiers, Reuters reports.

On Friday, more than 20 members of the militant group were jailed in Cameroon on charges of possessing illegal firearms and plotting an insurrection.

The armed group is seeking to establish an Islamists state in Nigeria.

Earlier this week, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2,800-strong regional force to tackle Boko Haram militants.

Efforts to step up regional co-operation gained momentum after Boko Haram caused an international outcry by abducting more than 200 girls from a boarding school in north-eastern Nigeria.

The girls are thought to be held in the vast Sambisa forest, along Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

Many Nigerian civilians in border towns have fled to Cameroon to escape from the Boko Haram attacks.