Burkina Faso: 62 women and 4 babies held by jihadists in the north freed

Burkina Faso’s armed forces today freed 62 women and four babies kidnapped last week by jihadists, the country’s public television reported and a security source confirmed.

In its 20.00 newscast, RTB showed footage of the women being freed and taken to Ouagadougou, calling it an army “operation”, without further details.

The women and their babies were abducted by gunmen last Thursday and Friday in the area around Arbida in northern Burkina Faso when they left their villages to look for food – fruits and nuts in the forest.

Security sources said they were spotted in the Tuguri zone, in a neighboring province, 200 kilometers to the south.

They were airlifted to the capital and are expected to testify so authorities can learn more about the kidnappers.

A large part of the country, mainly the Sahel region where Arbida is located, has been blockaded by jihadist groups for months. Communities have difficulty getting food supplies and residents are forced to leave their villages to find food.

Yesterday Thursday, Burkina Faso plunged into mourning again, after a series of attacks in the north and northwest, where about 30 people were killed. The 15 of them belonged to the Volunteers for the Defense of the Fatherland (VDP), an organization that works with the national army.

Since 2015 attacks by jihadist organizations linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have multiplied in Burkina Faso. Thousands of people were killed and at least 2 million displaced.

Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took over as interim president after the September 30 coup (the second in eight months), has made it his goal to “take back the territories held by the terrorist hordes.”

RES-EMP

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