Governor: Central African Fighters Kidnap 16 People in Cameroon, Including Politicians, Clergy

A governor says fighters from Central African Republic have kidnapped 16 people from a Cameroonian border town, including local politicians and clergy. Gov. Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua said Saturday that 30 heavily armed fighters seized a bus of people who were returning from a burial Thursday night. The assailants drove the bus back into Central African Republic, which has been wracked by sectarian violence for more than a year. Ivaha Diboua said no one had claimed responsibility for the kidnappings but it is suspected that they were carried out by rebels from the Democratic Front of the Central African People. Their leader is in jail in Cameroon, and fighters from the group kidnapped several Cameroonians and a Polish priest last year in a bid to win his release.