An anti-poaching patrol, made up of soldiers, foresters, trainers and Western journalists, was attacked Monday April 26 on the "Fada N'Gourma-Pama axis" in eastern Burkina Faso.

This attack left three wounded and four missing: three foreign nationals and a Burkinabé, local and security sources report to AFP.

The attack was confirmed by security sources, one of them claiming that the missing Westerners "are two Spaniards and an Irishman, all journalists-trainers working for an NGO that works for the protection of the environment".

"According to the survivors, two of them (expatriates) were injured during the attack. The search is still ongoing" to find the four missing, added this source.

The Irish Foreign Ministry said it had been briefed and worked with "international partners about the situation on the ground".

Regular hostage-taking of foreigners

The attackers operated in broad daylight on a road leading to the vast Pama reserve.

The attack was carried out by armed men traveling in two pick-up vehicles and a dozen motorcycles, according to security sources, who specified that weapons and equipment, including two pick-ups and a drone , had been taken away by the attackers.

Several foreign hostage-takings have taken place in recent years in Burkina Faso, which has been facing increasingly frequent jihadist attacks since 2015.

An Australian couple had been kidnapped in Djibo (on the border with Mali and Niger) on the night of January 15 to 16, 2016 during an action apparently coordinated with attacks in Ouagadougou.

The woman, Jocelyn Elliot, had been handed over by her captors to Nigerien authorities about a month after her kidnapping.

She then returned to Burkina Faso before returning to Australia.

The man is still missing.

In December 2018, an Italian-Canadian couple had disappeared on the road between Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

He had been released in neighboring Mali, after more than a year in captivity.

Different regions targeted by jihadist attacks

Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger in the grip of jihadist attacks, has also been a regular victim since 2015.

First concentrated in the north of the country, bordering Mali, the atrocities attributed to jihadist groups, including the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the greater Sahara. (EIGS), then targeted the capital and other regions, notably the east and north-west.

Since 2015, the violent actions of the jihadists have left more than 1,200 dead and more than a million displaced, fleeing areas of violence.

With AFP and Reuters

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