A French priest was abducted from a monastery in the far north of Cameroon late Wednesday night, the French government and a witness said. There has been no claim of responsibility, but the Nigerian Islamist militant groups Boko Haram and Ansaru are known to operate in the region, near the border with Nigeria. The French government formally advises its citizens to avoid the area, “given the terrorist risk and the risk of kidnapping,” said Romain Nadal, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, in a statement. The priest, identified by the government as Georges Vandenbeusch, was taken by “bandits” who had unsuccessfully sought to open a monastery safe, according to Henri Djongyang, a priest who said he witnessed the kidnapping, which he recounted on the French radio station Europe 1. A French family of seven was kidnapped in the region in February and held for two months by Boko Haram fighters.