Authorities in Burkina Faso have reported that nearly 80 women were abducted between Thursday, January 12 and Friday, January 13 in the northern Burkinabe department of Arbinda by suspected terrorists.
A member of the Arbinda local security force told Radio France Internationale (RFI) that there were not two groups of women abducted, but three, bringing the total number of people unaccounted for to about 80.
Specifically, these three groups of women have been abducted in the municipalities of Boukouma, Wourougoudou and Trignaen, all in the department of Arbinda, in the province of Soum.
According to the security worker, all the women had gone out to pick fruit when they were abducted by suspected terrorists. In the first mass abduction, 43 women were in Boukouma on their way to the bush, four kilometers from the town. A day later, 18 people met the same fate in Wourougoudou.
Finally, in a third village, Trignien, the alleged terrorists kidnapped a last group of 16 women, according to the station.
A woman who was able to escape the last assault said that the attackers took the cattle. The victims had to drive the animals into the bush while their captors followed them on motorcycles. Shortly thereafter, the alleged terrorists stopped to pray, a moment which the aforementioned woman took advantage of to escape.
A second abducted woman said that some fifteen victims had been taken to Dala village, about six kilometers northwest of Arbinda, where the criminals slaughtered a goat and gave the women rice to cook. She was able to escape during the preparation of the meal, RFI reports.
Earlier, the Government of Burkina Faso confirmed the disappearance of 50 women, referring to previously existing information that spoke of the abduction of two groups of women.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, called on Monday for the release of the abducted women.
«I am alarmed that dozens of women seeking food for their families were abducted in broad daylight, in what could be the first such attack deliberately targeting women in Burkina Faso,» he said in a statement.
In this regard, he called on the authorities to carry out an «effective, impartial and independent» investigation to identify those responsible and bring justice to the victims and their families.
The department of Arbinda, in the province of Soum, has been under terrorist blockade for several weeks, with repeated clashes taking place between the forces of the Burkina Faso Executive and these armed groups.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
