Gilberte Bussires, Canadian nun, and 2 priests abducted in Cameroon

Officials say two Italian priests and a Canadian nun working as missionaries in northern Cameroon have been abducted.

Italy's foreign ministry said the abduction occurred during the night between Friday and Saturday about 30 kilometres from the border with Nigeria.

The nun, 74-year-oldGilberteBussires, is fromAsbestos, Que. andbelongsto the Montreal-basedCongrgationdeNotre-Dame.According to the congregation,Bussireshas worked in Africa since 1979.

Canadas Department of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of the kidnapping.

We are pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and are in close contact with Cameroonian authorities, said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Caitlin Workman, in a statement.

Italy's foreign ministry identified the priests asGiampaoloMarta andGianantonioAllegri, but declined to give other details, including the Canadian's identity, to avoid compromising efforts for the missionaries' release.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev.CiroBenedettini, said Pope Francis was told early Saturday about the abduction, was praying for the three and "expressed hope for a solution."Benedettinisaid the priests were assigned from theVicenzadiocese in northeast Italy.

Armed gunmen are reported to have pulled up to the building where the nun and priests were staying at around 2 a.m. local time. The place was then ransacked before the three were taken hostage.

Locally police have blamed the Nigerian Islamist groupBokoHaram. Its violent attacks are blamed for more than 1,500 deaths this year.

• Video: Who areBokoHaram?

They have been waging an increasingly violent insurgency in the north of Nigeria since 2009 and are said to have been responsible for a number of similar kidnappings in the border region of northern Cameroon.

Three months ago, a French priest was released after being kidnapped in the same area in November. A French family was also held hostage in the region earlier last year.

The United States last year putBokoHaramon its list of international terror groups.

BokoHaramis suspected of using northern Cameroon as a safe haven to launch attacks in northeast Nigeria.