Jan. 17 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The UN General Secretariat, chaired by António Guterres, on Tuesday condemned the kidnapping of some 50 women between Thursday, January 12, and Friday, January 13, in the Burkinabe department of Arbinda, in the north of the country, at the hands of suspected terrorists.
In this sense, he has called for the immediate and unconditional release of the kidnapped women and girls while urging the Burkina Faso authorities to spare no effort to bring those responsible to justice, according to his 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 a peace lasting”, has settled.
According to local media, 41 women were kidnapped on Thursday morning when they went to the bush in search of leaves and edible fruits. A day later, a second group of fifteen women –and who were not informed of the incident the day before– suffered the same fate under the same circumstances.
At least five women managed to escape from the hands of the suspected terrorists, three from the first group and two from the second. The Burkina Faso Army has launched a search to find their whereabouts, although so far they have not found the place where the hostages are.
Later, it became known that there had been a third group of kidnapped women, raising the number of people unaccounted for to almost 80, according to a member of the security of the town of Arbinda to Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The department of Arbinda, in the province of Soum, has been under a terrorist blockade for several weeks, with repeated clashes between the forces of the Burkina Faso government and said armed groups.
