New Travel warning for Cameroon

wesheltonj

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US State Dept has a new warning out for Cameroon and a continuing warning for neighboring countries.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/cameroon-travel-warning.html

Cameroon Travel Warning
LAST UPDATED: OCTOBER 2, 2017
The State Department warns U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to the North and Far North Regions and parts of the East and Adamawa Regions of Cameroon due to terrorist threats and the risk of violent crime. The U.S. Embassy’s ability to provide consular services in remote and rural areas of Cameroon is extremely limited. This replaces the Travel Warning dated March 23, 2017.

The Boko Haram terrorist group has actively targeted foreign residents, tourists, and government leaders in the North and Far North Regions. Thirty-seven foreigners have been reported kidnapped since 2013. Since July 2015, the group has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in the North and Far North Regions, including the city of Maroua. The U.S. Embassy restricts U.S. official personnel travel to the North, Far North, and East Regions of Cameroon, as well as any travel to the north or east of Ngaoundere in the Adamawa Region.

U.S. citizens should exercise extreme caution if traveling within 60 miles of the border with Nigeria’s Adamawa State in the North and Adamawa Regions of Cameroon, the border area with Chad, and the border areas with the Central African Republic (CAR) due to violence, criminal activity, and military operations that sometimes cross into Cameroon.

There are Travel Warnings for neighboring Nigeria, Chad, and CAR.

There has been periodic unrest in the Northwest and Southwest Regions since November 2016. U.S. citizens should exercise caution when travelling to these regions, and avoid demonstrations anywhere in the country. Monitor the Embassy’s Security Messages for updates on protests and communication restrictions in these regions. Disruptions in communication services may limit the U.S. Embassy’s ability to provide consular or emergency services in these regions.

For further information:

 
That adds a little more adventure to that hunting destination decision.
 
It might bring down the trophy fee on Bongo. However, I suspect the daily rate will skyrocket.
 
Infinity comes to mind
 
Oh well I guess that dooms the dream bingo hunt for a while!
 
Oh well I guess that dooms the dream bingo hunt for a while!

Only if you want to avoid bombs and lead!

September 21, 2017

The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde informs U.S. citizens that a bomb exploded in a travel roundabout in Bamenda this morning, resulting in three injuries. Demonstrations may take place in Bamenda on Friday, September 22. The U.S. Embassy has prohibited all official travel to Bamenda until October 3 due to the potential for unrest in the city.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.

October 2, 2017

U.S. citizens are advised that the U.S. Embassy has extended its deferral of all non-essential travel for U.S. Embassy personnel to the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon through October 23, 2017. This extension is due to violent protests which caused several fatalities in the regions on October 1 and the potential for further unrest.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.
 
Only if you want to avoid bombs and lead!
or and be dead.
September 21, 2017

The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde informs U.S. citizens that a bomb exploded in a travel roundabout in Bamenda this morning, resulting in three injuries. Demonstrations may take place in Bamenda on Friday, September 22. The U.S. Embassy has prohibited all official travel to Bamenda until October 3 due to the potential for unrest in the city.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.

October 2, 2017

U.S. citizens are advised that the U.S. Embassy has extended its deferral of all non-essential travel for U.S. Embassy personnel to the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon through October 23, 2017. This extension is due to violent protests which caused several fatalities in the regions on October 1 and the potential for further unrest.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.
Only if you want to avoid bombs and lead!

September 21, 2017

The U.S. Embassy in Yaounde informs U.S. citizens that a bomb exploded in a travel roundabout in Bamenda this morning, resulting in three injuries. Demonstrations may take place in Bamenda on Friday, September 22. The U.S. Embassy has prohibited all official travel to Bamenda until October 3 due to the potential for unrest in the city.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.

October 2, 2017

U.S. citizens are advised that the U.S. Embassy has extended its deferral of all non-essential travel for U.S. Embassy personnel to the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon through October 23, 2017. This extension is due to violent protests which caused several fatalities in the regions on October 1 and the potential for further unrest.

U.S. citizens are advised to adjust travel plans accordingly. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security.
 
Oh well I guess that dooms the dream bingo hunt for a while!
There is a season for bingo? Is that a cross between a bongo and a dingo? LOL! Whats the trophy fee for a bingo anyway??:rolleyes::eek::D:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Oh well I guess that dooms the dream bingo hunt for a while!
@christophe morio has good bongo in Congo-Brazzaville, I believe.

And then you can say you're going for bongo in the Congo, which should be something like a rumble in the jungle (with apologies to Ali!).
 
No hunt worth the risk. Unfortunate the govt's of the countries don't reach out for world help to help them with this scourge.
 
There is a season for bingo? Is that a cross between a bongo and a dingo? LOL! Whats the trophy fee for a bingo anyway??:rolleyes::eek::D:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Bingo is $2 a card I think! Ha!
 
With problems in northwest Cameroon, that messes up the Lord Derby Eland hunting. Bongo in the southeast should still be safe. :whistle:

Last week 3 Green Berets were killed in Niger and 2 others wounded. Africa in the Lake Chad basin area is the hotbed of terrorists.

https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-army/2017/10/09/us-army-africa-turns-its-focus-to-lake-chad-basin-increases-exercises-to-deter-emerging-extremist-groups/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New Campaign&utm_term=*Situation Report


US Army Africa turns focus to Lake Chad Basin, increases exercises to deter emerging extremist groups

For years, U.S. Army Africa has hosted hundreds of civil affairs and Special Forces troops in a bid to build security and deter extremist groups in the region.

Their work, particularly in countries like Cameroon, Niger and Mali, remained largely unknown, taking a back seat to news about ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Army’s missions in Africa were pushed into the spotlight Oct. 4 when four soldiers from 3rd Special Forces Group were killed in an enemy ambush in southwest Niger.

A day after the attack, Army Times spoke to acting U.S. Army Africa Commander Brig. Gen. Gene LeBoeuf about focusing on West African extremist groups and bumping up exercises with African partners.

USARAF and its local partners completed 186 theater security cooperation events in fiscal year 2017, LeBoeuf said, and there are 271 on the agenda for the next year.

LeBoeuf, previously USARAF’s deputy commanding general, took over the command in late August, after his predecessor was suspended amid a misconduct investigation.

That hiccup hasn’t slowed down the command, LeBoeuf said.

“The command is more than one person — it is an entire organization of our soldiers and civilians and our local nationals that make up a good portion of our workforce as well,” he said. “So everyone together is drilling in the right direction.”

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity.

Q. Where are you focusing on in terms of exercises and forming partnerships?

A. So we are spread throughout. We like to rotate our exercises among east, west, north and south and central Africa, if you will. That is purposeful in terms of ensuring that we have an opportunity to engage with partners across the continent, and we are not just focused on one particular region.

Our exercises themselves actually are going to be across a swath of Africa for fiscal year 2018 as well. And that is going to include Justified Accord that is going to take place in Uganda; Unified Focus will be Cameroon; we will also have an exercise in Ghana and also an exercise in Rwanda. In addition to that, we will have five different medical exercises that are going to go on.

I do want to focus on where we are shifting our focus here on the continent itself. Even though we have dispersion across the different regions I just described, we are also now moving from 2017 and our successes there to recognizing that there are some additional challenges in the Lake Chad Basin Area.

So, approximately 80 percent of our theater security cooperation activities are going to be focused in Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon area for next year. That is a significant increase from what we had over the past year itself. Those, I would say, are our focus areas, if you will — the Lake Chad Basin area, and the different exercise hosting nations as well.

Q. Why is the Lake Chad Basin such an important area?

A. There are a number of focus areas, really — reasons, I should say — that we are looking at the Lake Chad Basin. One is what is happening to Lake Chad. We are seeing, right now, Lake Chad is about 10 percent of the size that it was in the 1960s. That is a significant reduction in the size of a very large lake and fresh water source for those four countries of Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.

We also see in that area a great number of displaced personnel and even refugees that are crossing the borders. Not tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, but millions of people in the Lake Chad Basin that are displaced, or refugee populations that are very susceptible to a number of different influences.

Then we see a growth of violent extremist organizations in the area as well, such as Boko Haram. It is one of our efforts with [U.S. Africa Command] to address violent extremist organizations, to help our African partner nations be able to equip and be prepared to address the violent extremist organizations operating in that area.

It’s counter-IED, medical, logistics and also mission command — those are the four areas that we primarily focus on from our host nation, our partner nations, in saying these are some gaps for their forces in being able to address the violent extremist organizations on the road.

Q. Speaking of violent extremists, how has your command responded to the attack in Niger?

A. Certainly we are all concerned with respect to recent losses, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and the wounded soldiers as well. We all recognize that this is an environment in which we are operating into to help improve stability on the continent itself.

There are some unstable regions, and because of the instability that exists, we recognize that there are threats and challenges out there. Everyone that operates on that continent recognizes that that type of situation can exist there.

Again, our objective is to focus on an ability to ensure that our host nations, our African Partner Nations, have an ability to address these threats and challenges themselves. Of course, one of our objectives ... is to ensure that we do, of course, have priority towards our force protection and protecting not only our personnel but also U.S. assets on the continent as well.

Q. Why should the Army focus on Africa?

A. Africa is an enduring interest to the United States, so it matters for a number of reasons — and it is not just us, but Europe as well. When you look at the instability that we see, that ... can impact the United States, our partners, Partner African Nations and, of course, allies as well.

The security instability in Africa, combined with the youth bulge that is occurring on the continent itself, the lack of economic activities, lend themselves to tripling the number of African immigrants that we have seen crossing Mediterranean Europe in the last five years.

So it is in our best interest to look at Africa, at not only these challenges but the opportunities that lie ahead for us. And that if we do not invest in Africa, if we do not help our African partner nations in building stability and building economies and strengthening democratic institutions, then it is going to be a much more difficult challenge in the future.

 
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Fourth U.S. Soldier Is Found Dead After Ambush in Niger
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/world/africa/green-berets-niger-soldiers-killed.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New Campaign&utm_term=*Situation Report

WASHINGTON — A fourth American soldier has been found dead after an ambush in Niger this week that killed three United States Army Special Forces and wounded two, American officials said on Friday.

It was not clear whether the American had been captured and killed by militants or whether he had been separated during the fighting that erupted on Wednesday. Special Forces troops were ambushed during what was initially called a routine training mission with Nigerien soldiers by what commanders say was a larger, heavily armed Qaeda force from neighboring Mali.

Local Nigeriens recovered the soldier’s body near the site of the ambush, about 120 miles north of Niamey, the capital of Niger, where the United States now has about 800 troops based, an American military official said.

Asked on Friday whether the United States would retaliate against the militants responsible for the deadly attack, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said, “We’re continuing to review and look into this.”

The Defense Department did not identify the fourth soldier, who was a mechanic, according to two military officials. Before the announcement of that soldier’s death, the Pentagon identified three of the men who died in Wednesday’s ambush: Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright.

Sergeant Black, 35, was from a city near Seattle; Sergeant Johnson, 39, listed his hometown as a suburb of Cincinnati; and Sergeant Wright, 29, was a native of rural Georgia.

Now, they are knitted together as the first American troops to die in combat as part of the United States’ broadening counterterrorism mission in Niger, a largely desert nation in northwestern Africa almost three times the size of California.

After years of missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 3rd Special Forces Group, the unit to which the men were assigned, announced that it was returning its focus to Africa in 2015. The decision came as the United States is relying increasingly on small groups of Special Forces soldiers who, in turn, have borne a disproportionate brunt of casualties. This year, the elite forces have accounted for nearly half of all Army combat deaths.

Pentagon officials expressed shock at the deaths in Niger during what commanders had initially said was a routine reconnaissance mission. The American team leaders told their superiors in seeking approval for the mission that there was a “low risk” of hostile activity in the region close to the border between Niger and Mali.

That assessment has come under close scrutiny because that border region has been recently destabilized by cross-border jihadist attacks on the Nigerien Army and refugee camps by fighters from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Qaeda branch in North Africa. In mid-June, the Nigerien Army mounted an operation in this same northern Tillaberi region to take on the jihadists.

The mission brought together soldiers from across the country. Sergeant Black was a native of Puyallup, Wash., and graduated from Puyallup High School in 2000. He enlisted in the Army in October 2009 and served as a Special Forces medical sergeant.

Sergeant Johnson, who listed his hometown as Springboro, Ohio, and enlisted in the Army in 2007, was a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist.

The family of Sergeant Black could not be reached on Friday, and Sergeant Johnson’s declined to comment. But in Lyons, Ga., the rural town where Sergeant Wright had once been a tight end and defensive end on the high school football team, relatives were trying to process their grief after an ambush so far away.

Sergeant Wright, one of four sons, had enlisted in the Army in 2012, following his parents and his older brother, who were also in the military.

“Dustin had a very strong desire to serve his country and to serve others,” an aunt, Ginger Russell, said. “I think he would have joined the military regardless of whether he had a family connection or not.”

He had a reputation as a fun-loving jokester who was close to his family, quick to make friends and, Ms. Russell noted, thought he could dance better than he did. Smitten by a young woman he had met at a country music festival in South Carolina, Sergeant Wright had begun to imagine life after his deployment, his family said.

Before he left for Africa this summer, his grandmother recalled, he had slid onto a couch beside her, took her hand and told her he loved her. Then, as the two huddled at a going-away party, he said he had met the woman he wanted to marry once he returned home.

“‘This is the girl for me, Granny,’” Sergeant Wright’s grandmother, Elaine Trull, remembered him saying. “‘You’ll like her.’”
 
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