Militant Nigerian group responsible for kidnapping

A Nigerian Islamist group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a construction camp in the town of Jama'are and the kidnapping of seven foreigners. The group, called Ansaru, which is described as a jihad organization, on Monday said it was responsible for the Saturday attack, during which seven workers from the United Kingdom, Greece, Italy, Lebanon and the Philippines, were taken hostage, The Guardian, a British newspaper, reported. A guard at the construction site was also fatally shot during the raid, which came after an attack on a local police station where two vehicles were blown up. The Foreign Office in London said it was aware of the kidnapping and that it is working with the authorities in Abuja. When asked whether the United Kingdom would assist in a rescue operation, a No. 10 Downing St. spokeswoman said: "I think that the Foreign Office will want to do what they can." Ansaru also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a French national last December, saying France's ban on full-face veils and its support for military action in Mali as reasons for the abduction. During that attack, 30 extremists raided a house in the northern state of Kaduna, killing two people and kidnapping a French engineer working on a renewable energy project there.