2 Spanish journalists killed in Burkina Faso

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Two Spanish journalists were killed while filming a documentary about poaching in Burkina Faso, Spain’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

The two journalists were reported missing on Monday, alongside an Irish national and a Burkinabe soldier.

They disappeared after an attack on an anti-poaching military unit in a national park in the east of the country, near the border with Benin.

Arancha Gonzalez Laya said the area was a dangerous zone where terrorists, poachers and bandits operate.

She said the journalists were filming a documentary about Burkina Faso’s anti-poaching operations, how the country is protecting its natural parks and the area’s local communities.

Both journalists are men from northern Spain. Their full names were not released.

Ireland’s RTE cited senior Burkina Faso security sources as saying that the Irish national also died.

“This situation is confusing… as we learn more we’ll share the information,” the foreign minister said, calling the event “sad” and highlighting the valuable work of journalists in conflict areas.

In December, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the situation in the area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger was in “a downward spiral.”

Violence between armed groups, widespread poverty and climate change have left a record 13.4 million people, half of them children, requiring aid assistance in the region.

“The Sahel is a microcosm of cascading global risks converging in one region,” said Guterres. “It is a warning sign for us all requiring urgent attention and resolution.”