Burkina Faso: Alleged jihadists kidnap around 50 women

Enlarge image

Spiral of violence: two million people from Burkina Faso are on the run

Photo: ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP

In West Africa's Burkina Faso, suspected jihadists have kidnapped more than 50 women.

At the time of their kidnapping, the women were out in the bushland near the town of Arbinda in the north of the country to collect leaves and berries, officials and local residents reported on Sunday to the AFP news agency.

Several women were able to escape and informed the other residents.

About 40 women were kidnapped about a dozen kilometers from Arbinda on Thursday, and another 20 north of the town on Friday.

The kidnappers probably took the women to one of their bases.

Regular attacks by jihadist groups

The village of Arbinda is located in the Sahel region in northern Burkina Faso.

Jihadist groups control access to the area, and food supplies are limited.

According to officials, the Burkinabe army and voluntary security forces had recently tried unsuccessfully to push back the jihadists.

The landlocked country of Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world.

It has been caught in a spiral of violence since 2015. There are regular armed attacks by jihadist groups, some of which work with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and the jihadist militia "Islamic State" (IS).

Thousands of civilians and security forces have been killed in the fighting, and two million people have fled their homes.

But not only terrorist militias are among the attackers.

Most recently, at the beginning of the year, there was a massacre of the Fulbe ethnic minority, which was allegedly committed by members of a state volunteer militia.

The local prosecutor said that "most of the victims, all men, were shot."

28 people died.

The government said an investigation had been launched and urged calm.

The government of interim President Ibrahim Traoré announced the massive expansion of the volunteer program at the end of October.

Typically, recruits receive two weeks of training before being issued weapons and communications.

muk/AFP