Four abducted in Burkina Faso feared killed, including two Spanish journalists

Our Foreign Staff
·2 min read
A security official said large-scale searches had failed to locate the group - Sia KAMBOU / AFP
A security official said large-scale searches had failed to locate the group - Sia KAMBOU / AFP

Two Spanish journalists, an Irish NGO worker and one Burkinabe have reportedly been killed after their convoy was attacked by suspected jihadists in eastern Burkina Faso.

The Spanish government confirmed the deaths of the journalists, named as correspondent David Beriain and cameraman Roberto Fraile. They were filming a documentary about anti-poaching efforts around the Fada N'Gourma-Pama area, which has been blighted by jihadist attacks for the last four years.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted: "The worst possible news is confirmed. All our affection for the relatives and friends of David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, murdered in Burkina Faso. And our recognition of those who, like them, on a daily basis carry out brave and vital journalism from conflict areas."

The group was abducted after an attack on an anti-poaching patrol on Monday morning in the landlocked West African nation, security and diplomatic sources said.

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They were part of a group of soldiers, forest rangers and foreign reporters who were targeted, according to a local official.

A security source confirmed that the Westerners "were working on behalf of an NGO protecting the environment" in the country, without naming the organisation.

The attackers were aboard two pick-up vehicles and a dozen motorbikes, according to security sources, who said the assailants made off with vehicles and various weapons after the attack.

Numerous other foreign workers have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso, a former French colony.

One of the world's poorest countries, it is struggling with a ruthless insurgency by Islamists who swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.

David Beriain attends the presentation of the Born to Be Discovery Awards (BTBDA) on February 18, 2015 in Madrid, Spain -  Europa Press/Europa Press via Getty Images
David Beriain attends the presentation of the Born to Be Discovery Awards (BTBDA) on February 18, 2015 in Madrid, Spain - Europa Press/Europa Press via Getty Images

Thousands have been killed and more than a million people have fled their homes since the country suffered its first major terror attack in 2016.

In January this year, a priest went missing in the country's southeast, sparking fears he had been kidnapped.

Last August, the grand imam of the northern town of Djibo was found dead three days after gunmen stopped the car he was travelling in and kidnapped him.

In March 2019, a priest in Djibo was kidnapped, and in February 2018, a Catholic missionary, Cesar Fernandez, was murdered in the centre of the country.

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