Families of some 13 persons in Cameroon’s Far North region, abducted by ISWAP, have begun raising money to bring back their loved ones.

Members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a splinter group of the Boko Haram terror group, have demanded $16, 750 (USD) from 13 people kidnapped during an attack at Goré Kendi village in Cameroon.

The victims, whose community is located at the municipality of Blangoua in the department of Logone-et-Chari which borders Lake Chad, have been held captive by the terror group since June 30.

Locals told HumAngle that aside from kidnapping the residents, they also made away with their properties.

The attack was carried out simultaneously with another attack orchestrated by Boko Haram’s Jama’atu Ahlussunnah Liddaawati Wal Jihad (JAS) militants in the same division.

While two persons were killed in the Waza, Logone and Chari division the same night, others sustained injuries.

The Far North of Cameroon is a land that lies between Nigeria to the west and Chad to the east. Jihadists operate in the region, waging attacks against villages connecting the three countries.

Until 2015, Boko Haram, which has been carrying out attacks in the Far North of Cameroon, pledged allegiance to ISWAP.

However, ISWAP killed a defiant Boko Haram leader in 2021, establishing control over the Lake Chad basin, while relegating some Boko Haram members to remote areas.

A report from the United Nations office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says there have been an increased number of attacks from non-state armed groups in the country as almost 10,000 people have flee their homes between January and May 2023.

Meanwhile, some villages have created vigilante groups to repel attacks from terrorists. Also, the United Nations Development Programme has recently offered bicycles, megaphones and first aid kits to members of vigilanté groups to reduce terror attacks.