Burkina Faso: 66 people freed after kidnapping

In the West African country of Burkina Faso, 66 women and children were freed from their kidnappers on Friday (local time), according to the state television station Télévision du Burkina (RTP). They were kidnapped eight days ago by gunmen in northern Burkina Faso while searching for fruit and leaves in the bush outside two villages in Arbinda district, Soum province in the Sahel.

The security forces leading the rescue operation found the 27 women and 39 toddlers and babies in the neighboring province of Centre-North, according to RTP. A government official confirmed the information but gave no details.

Burkina Faso is one of several countries in West Africa fighting an insurgency movement with ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The jihadists have occupied areas in the country’s arid and mostly rural north, executing hundreds of villagers and displacing thousands in the process.

In addition, they have blocked certain areas in recent months and made it increasingly dangerous to care for the surviving residents. Faced with acute food shortages, many villagers have turned to gathering wild fruits, leaves and seeds to feed their families.

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