According to local authorities, 50 women have been abducted by jihadists in northern Burkina Faso.
Due to a serious food scarcity, residents of Arbinda claim that two groups of women were abducted while they were out collecting leaves and wild fruits.
A select few were able to flee and sound the alarm.
Since a large portion of the region has been blockaded by Islamist terrorists, news of the kidnappings, which occurred on Thursday and Friday, has now come to light.
“The women got together to go and gather leaves and wild fruits in the bush because there is nothing left to eat,” one resident said.
“On Thursday evening, when they didn’t come back, we thought that their carts had had a problem. But three survivors came back to tell us what happened,” said another resident.
The Sahel region’s Arbinda has been severely affected by the Islamist conflict.
The jihadists have shut the roads leading in and out, there is a significant food shortage, and the humanitarian situation is dire.
In order to obtain food and supplies, demonstrators in Arbinda broke into warehouses last month.
An insurgency that has lasted a decade and forced over two million people from their homes has affected Burkina Faso as a country.
Since the military took over in January of last year, attacks have not stopped despite promises to the contrary.
Author-Roberta Appiah
