HomeTop StoriesMoroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released

Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Four Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in West Africa this weekend have been released in Niger, officials said.

The drivers were the latest victims of insecurity in the Sahel, an arid strip of land south of the Sahara where militant groups such as the Islamic State Sahel Province have in recent years exploited local grievances to grow their ranks and expand their presence expand.

The four were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, Niger’s capital, and had been traveling the 4,950-kilometer truck route for more than 20 days when they were reported missing on Saturday, police said. secretary general of the Moroccan Transport Union and a Moroccan official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the kidnapping.

The Moroccan embassy in Burkina Faso informed the union late on Monday that the four drivers had been released and were safe in Niamey.

“They will be brought back soon,” said Echarki El Hachmi, secretary general of the union. Their trucks and cargoes remain missing, he added.

The drivers chose not to travel with a military escort on the route between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. The Moroccan official said they went missing while traveling across the Burkinabe-Nigeria border from the town of Dori to the town of Tera.

Truck drivers are discouraged from traveling the route without safety escorts. El Hachmi said the drivers were taken to a remote forest by an unnamed armed group.

The Moroccan official said there was no evidence linking any group to the kidnapping. Moroccan authorities did not respond to ransom questions.

Regional affiliates of the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda have recently expanded their activities in the Sahel, which has been disrupted in recent years by military coups and junta-led governments. In an effort to counter insurgencies, they have replaced security partnerships with Western countries with mercenary forces, including Russia’s Afrika Korps.

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According to the United Nations, terrorism and organized crime committed by militant groups pose a “pervasive threat” in the Sahel.

Militants have killed thousands of people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and displaced millions.

In 2024, 439 people were kidnapped or forcibly disappeared in the three countries, including 150 by IS-Sahel and an al-Qaeda-linked group that goes by the acronym JNIM, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a nonprofit organization. collecting data on violence.

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