Burkina Faso: Foreign journalists missing after attack

By Dramane Traore

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AA) - Four people, including a Burkinabe soldier and three foreign journalists, were reported missing on Monday following an attack targeting an anti-poaching unit on the Fada-Pama axis in Gourma province, eastern Burkina Faso.

An administrative official said on condition of anonymity due to restriction on speak to the media that the attackers ambushed the team which also included "European journalists."

"The three journalists, two Spanish and one Irish, are among those reported missing," the official said, adding that the attackers also took away a military vehicle, motorcycles and other equipment.

The three journalists were working for an environmental non-profit group, said the source.

A search operation was conducted to find the missing, according to a Burkinabe security source affirming that the attackers had arrived in two vehicles in broad daylight.

Irish media reported that the Irish Foreign Ministry said it is aware of the situation and has established contact with the Burkinabe authorities to closely monitor the situation.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The West African country has been marred by repeated terror attacks which have claimed many lives over the past five years and displaced thousands of people, who are also facing a serious humanitarian crisis.

Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali in the Sahel are at the epicenter of one of the world's fastest-growing displacement and protection crises.

The region hosts 851,000 refugees and nearly two million displaced people, according to the UN Refugee Agency.