Brit missionary, 83, and assistant 'brutally abducted by armed men' in Cameroon

A and his assistant have been attacked and kidnapped by a group of armed men in Cameroon.

Huub Welters, 83, along with Henry Kang, were captured on Tuesday in Bambui, a town located in the English speaking northwest of the country which has been blighted by a separatist conflict, said his church group. It is understood that they were "brutally" attacked and abducted by unknown armed men, with their current whereabouts unknown.

The pair were on their way to a project to build classrooms for underprivileged children in nearby Ilung, according to the, who are worried especially about his poor health.

It told how he "spent his first night in captivity, deep in the bush. Tonight, he endures yet another," The London based missionary continued: "What weighs heaviest on our hearts is his fragile health. He has already endured multiple joint replacements, a back operation, and now, on top of all that, the cruel mental and emotional suffering of being held hostage by those he only ever wanted to help."

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NGO African Conscience said that it believed the pair had been abducted by separatist fighters. The NGO added: "The authorities of the Archdiocese are currently working for their release. We pray. We plead. We wait." Violence and abductions in northwest and southwest regions have been a serious problem for Cameroon.

And a message from the Mill Hill Missionary about Mr Welters : "At his age, he should be at home, resting, surrounded by the warmth of cherished memories from his decades of selfless service. Instead, he chose to stay; because his heart simply wouldn’t allow him to walk away from those in need. And now, his kindness, his sacrifice, his love have been met with violence and suffering."

Meanwhile, at least 12 Cameroonian soldiers were killed Monday night in an attack by Islamic militants on the northwest border with Nigeria, according to a statement from the country's .

The attack also left over a dozen soldiers wounded and occurred in the Lake Chad area near the town of Wulgo, the ministry said Thursday. While no group was initially blamed for the attack, officials later said it was suspected to have been carried out by extremists from the Boko Haram group or its breakaway faction that is loyal to the Islamic State group.

Pointing to Boko Haram militants, the ministry cited the “advanced weaponry they increasingly have at their disposal” and the “apparent alliance with powerful transnational criminal entities” as contributing factors to Monday’s attack.

Matan Daniel, a researcher at the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, an Israel-based research group that tracks IS and al-Qaeda, sees the attack as part of a significant issue that has plagued the region: lack of communication between the four countries that surround Lake Chad.