APA-Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) Security incidents linked to armed jihadist groups have increased in several parts of the West African country.
On the night of Friday 14 to Saturday 15 July, at least 13 people were kidnapped in four lorries bound for Djibasso on the Dedougou-Nouna route in the Boucle du Mouhoun region, reports the private daily Le Pays.
It reported that the trucks were stopped by armed men, probably members of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), on their way to the village of Lékuy in the Bourasso commune at around 9pm.
The kidnappers then took their hostages to an unknown location, according to the private daily, which adds that some of the hostages took advantage of the cover of darkness to escape from their armed captors.
On the morning of Saturday 15 July, two other trucks were intercepted and set on fire by armed men on the same stretch of road, not far from Barakuy.
According to APA’s sources, no violence was used against the hostages.
There was no news of those abducted as of Sunday morning.
Last February, around fifty women were kidnapped by suspected jihadists in Arbinda, in the north of Burkina Faso, before being found.
SD/ac/lb/as/APA