Around 50 women are reportedly abducted in Burkina Faso by suspected militants

Approximately 50 women have been taken by suspected jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, which is plagued by insurgency, local officials and villagers told AFP.

On condition of anonymity, the sources stated that on Thursday, some 40 people were apprehended roughly a dozen kilometres (miles) southeast of Arbinda, and that on Friday, about 20, others were taken hostage to the north of the town. Some people managed to escape in the meantime.

One of the locals claimed that “the women got together to go and harvest leaves and wild fruits in the jungle because there is nothing left to eat,” adding that they had left on Thursday with their carts.

“We assumed that their carts had broken down on Thursday night when they failed to return. However, three survivors returned to explain what happened to us in a different language.

He claimed that the following day, about 20 ladies who had not been informed of the first abduction were taken in turn eight kilometres (five miles) north of Arbinda.

The resident continued, “In both groups, several ladies were able to flee and make their way back to the village on foot. “We think the kidnappers transported them to their bases,” the source said.

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Local officials who confirmed the kidnappings said that the army and its civilian helpers have searched the area without success.

The commune of Arbinda is situated in the northern Sahel region of Burkina Faso, a territory that is besieged by terrorist organisations and has few food supplies.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. Since 2015, it has been dealing with a terrorist uprising.

Around 2 million people have been forced to move, and thousands of civilians and security workers have died.

Army officers who were irate over their inability to put an end to the insurgency staged two coups this year. 

AFP