The 50 women who were abducted by armed terrorists between Thursday, January 12 and Friday, January 13 in the northern Burkinabe department of Arbinda have been found, AIB news agency has learned.
The governor of the Sahel region, Colonel Rodolphe Sorgho, announced in a communiqué dated January 16 that, since their disappearance, the authorities had carried out a search to find the women «safe and sound», according to local media.
A group of 41 women were abducted while on their way to the bush, four kilometers from the city, in search of leaves and edible fruits. A day later, a second group of 15 women met the same fate under the same circumstances.
Later, it was learned that a third group of women had been abducted, bringing the number of people unaccounted for to almost 80, according to Radio France Internationale, although this figure was not confirmed by the authorities.
The UN Secretary-General, headed by António Guterres, on Tuesday condemned the abduction and urged Burkina Faso authorities to spare no effort to bring those responsible to justice, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, also called in a statement Monday for the release of the abducted Burkinabe women in Soum province.
The department of Arbinda has been under terrorist blockade for several weeks, with repeated clashes taking place between Burkina Faso’s executive forces and these armed groups.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
