French special forces have rescued four foreign hostages in a complex overnight operation in northern Burkina Faso in which two of its soldiers were killed.…
French special forces have rescued four foreign hostages in a complex overnight operation in northern Burkina Faso in which two of its soldiers were killed.
Here is a brief profile of those freed in the raid, two of them French, one American and a South Korean national, who were all being held by kidnappers who have not yet been identified.
– Two French tourists –
Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas disappeared on May 1 while on safari in the tiny West African nation of Benin.
They were kidnapped on the last leg of a two-week trip while driving with their local guide Fiacre Gbedji through the remote Pendjari National Park.
A wildlife reserve known for its elephants and lions, it lies close to Benin’s porous northwestern border with Burkina Faso which has been repeatedly hit by Islamist violence.
The pair went off on safari and were due back at the lodge where they were staying that evening, but never showed up.
Three days later, the badly-disfigured body of their guide was discovered in the park, while the charred remains of their white Toyota jeep was found over the border in eastern Burkina.
Pique is a 51-year-old jewellery maker who was born in Normandy and raised in the small town of Barenton some 250 kilometres (150 miles) west of Paris. He lives in the capital and works in a jewellery shop in the 4th district, local media said.
