French family kidnapped in Cameroon

A French family of seven – three adults and four children – have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon, President Francois Hollande confirmed.

Mr Hollande indirectly suggested that the Boko Haram group may have had a role in the kidnapping.

French minister Laurent Fabius said it “probably was this sect Boko Haram”.

Details of the kidnapping were not immediately clear.

Mr Hollande, speaking during a visit to Greece, warned French citizens in the region “to avoid exposing themselves”.

A French official close to the embassy in Cameroon said the group was believed to have been taken from northern Cameroon to Nigeria, where a little-known extremist group claimed responsibility for a separate abduction of seven foreigners on Monday.