2 French soldiers killed in hostage rescue mission in Benin
Two French soldiers have been killed during an operation to free four hostages held by a militant group in northern Burkina Faso, France has announced.
The French Presidency said on Friday that French special forces had freed two French hostages — as well as an American and a South Korean who had also been held hostage — during an overnight covert military raid in Burkina Faso.
The two French hostages had disappeared during a safari in the Pendjari National Park in Benin near Burkina Faso’s border on May 1. The body of their wildlife guide and their abandoned vehicle were found back then. They had been taken across the border into Burkina Faso.
Takfiri terrorists have overrun parts of Burkina Faso’s north and east and stepped up attacks in the country in recent months.
In a separate statement, French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly thanked Beninese and Burkinabe authorities as well as the United States for their “precious support” in the operation. It was not clear what kind of support they had provided.
Paris has deployed thousands of regular troops and special forces to the poverty-wracked and violence-hit Sahel region of northwest Africa as part of the so-called Operation Barkhane, which purportedly seeks to counter Takfiri militants. France is a former colonizer of the region.
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