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View all search resultsTwo French soldiers killed in rescue of four hostages in Burkina Faso
French special forces carried out the raid under cover of dark over the night of Thursday-Friday, supported by US intelligence and troops from France's Barkhane operation deployed in the Sahel region to counter Islamist militants.
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Malian Lieutenant Gouassou Diara speaks with French captain Gauthier on November 1, 2017 in central Mali, in the border zone with Burkina Faso and Niger as a joint anti-jihadist force linking countries in the Sahel began operations on November 1. The world's newest joint international force, the five-nation G5 Sahel plans to number up to 5,000 military, police and civilian troops by March 2018. The 5,000 will comprise two battalions each from Mali and Niger and one each from Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania.
(AFP/Daphné Benoit)
T
wo French soldiers were killed in a night-time rescue of four foreign hostages including two French citizens from the clutches of a militant group described as "terrorists" by the military.
President Emmanuel Macron's office said a US woman and a South Korean woman were also freed in the covert operation. All four hostages were safe, the French presidency added. The two French citizens were kidnapped while on safari in neighbouring Benin.
"The precise and determined actions of French soldiers allowed us to take out the kidnappers while protecting the lives of the hostages," France's army chief said in a separate statement.
French special forces carried out the raid under cover of dark over the night of Thursday-Friday, supported by US intelligence and troops from France's Barkhane operation deployed in the Sahel region to counter Islamist militants.
The two French tourists were kidnapped in Benin's Pendjari National Park last week. Their safari guide was found dead, his body riddled with bullets, and their vehicle burned.
The French government had warned its citizens against travelling to parts of Benin near the Burkina Faso border where the park is located because of the risk of kidnapping.
Swathes of northern and eastern Burkina Faso have been overrun by Islamist militants, forcing more than 100,000 residents to flee.
