Burkina Faso: 66 women and children released after being kidnapped by armed men | Burkina Faso

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Sixty-six women and children abducted by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have reportedly been released.

The mass kidnapping was unprecedented in Burkina Faso, which is facing a violent Islamist insurgency that spread from neighboring Mali in 2015.

On January 12 and 13, armed men seized women and their children as they roamed the bush in search of fruit, and then left two villages in the Arbinda district of the Somme department of the Sahel region.

The security forces carried out a rescue operation and found 27 adult women and 39 children, boys and a young girl in Al-Wasat area – the neighboring northern governorate.

On Friday, national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTP) reported that the group had been released.

“They found freedom after eight long days in the hands of their captors,” said the RTP presenter.

A government source confirmed the information but gave no details.

Burkina Faso is one of several countries in West Africa fighting an insurgency with links to al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The jihadists have occupied territory in the mainly arid and rural north of the country, killing hundreds of villagers and displacing thousands in the process.

They have also besieged certain areas in recent months and made it more dangerous to deliver supplies to besieged citizens.

Faced with severe food shortages, many villagers have resorted to picking wild fruits, leaves, and seeds to feed their families. They say venturing into the bush makes them vulnerable to jihadist attacks.

The Sahel insurgency has killed thousands of people across the region and forced more than 2.7 million to flee their homes over the past decade, according to the United Nations.

Frustration with the authorities’ failure to restore security and protect civilians was a contributing factor to the military coups in Burkina Faso and Mali.

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