The UN Secretary General, chaired by António Guterres, on Tuesday condemned the abduction of some 50 women between Thursday, January 12 and Friday, January 13 in the northern Burkina Faso department of Arbinda by suspected terrorists.
It called for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted women and girls and urged the Burkina Faso authorities to spare no effort to bring those responsible to justice, said its spokesman, Farhan Haq, in a statement.
«The Secretary-General reaffirms the UN’s commitment to continue working with Burkina Faso and international partners to improve the protection of civilians, respond to humanitarian and development challenges, promote and protect human rights and support efforts towards lasting peace,» he concluded.
According to local media reports, 41 women were abducted Thursday morning as they headed into the bush in search of leaves and edible fruits. A day later, a second group of 15 women – who were not informed of the incident the day before – met the same fate under the same circumstances.
At least five women managed to escape from the hands of the alleged terrorists, three from the first group and two from the second. The Burkina Faso Army has launched a search to find their whereabouts, but so far has not found the location of the hostages.
It later emerged that a third group of women had been kidnapped, bringing the number of people unaccounted for to almost 80, a member of the security forces in the town of Arbinda told Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The department of Arbinda, in Soum province, 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)
