Soldiers killed freeing hostages

FRENCH commandos rescued four foreign hostages including two French citizens from a militant group in Burkina Faso, France’s military said yesterday, adding that two of the elite soldiers were killed in the night-time operation.

French special forces carried out the raid under cover of dark, supported by US intelligence and troops from France’s Barkhane operation deployed in the Sahel region to counter Islamist militants.

All four hostages were safe, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said, adding that a US woman and a South Korean woman were also freed in the covert operation.

“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, describing the militant group as “terrorists”.

France, the former colonial power in the region, intervened in Mali in 2013 to drive out Islamist militants who occupied the north of the country and has since kept about 4500 troops in the Sahel.

The region, a vast, sparsely-populated desert area, has seen a spike in violence by militant groups linked to al-qaeda and Islamic State in past years, highlighting the difficulty international partners face in restoring stability.

France’s defence ministry identified the fallen soldiers as two elite naval commandos.

Burkina Faso’s President Roch Kabore hailed the hostages’ release and offered condolences to the soldiers’ families. | ANA