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TMI BlogMoroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been releasedX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Province have exploited local grievances to expand their ranks and presence. >The four were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital of Niger, and had been on the road for more than 20 days along the 3,000-mile (5,000-kilometre) route when they were reported missing on Saturday, the secretary-general of Morocco's Transport Union said. >The Moroccan Embassy in Bur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... kina Faso informed the union late Monday that the four drivers had been freed and were safe in Niamey. >“They will be brought back soon,” said Echarki El Hachmi, the union's secretary-general. Their trucks and cargos remain missing, he said. >The drivers elected not to travel with a military escort on the route between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. They went missing while travelli ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng across the Burkinabe-Nigerien border, from the town of Dori to the town of Tera. >Truckers are discouraged from travelling the route without security escorts. El Hachmi said the drivers were taken by an unidentified armed group to a remote forest. >Moroccan authorities did not respond to questions about their efforts to free the drivers and whether their policy was to pay ransoms. >Morocco h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as tried to deepen its political and economic ties in the Sahel and export more goods to countries such as Niger. >Regional affiliates of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida have recently expanded their activities in the Sahel, which has been upended by military coups and junta-led governments in recent years. In an attempt to combat insurgencies, the governments have replaced security partners ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hips with Western nations with mercenary groups including Russia's Africa Corps, the successor of the paramilitary group Wagner. >According to the United Nations, terrorism and organised crime carried out by militant groups are 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 abducted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or forcibly disappeared in the three countries, including 150 by IS-Sahel and an al-Qaida-linked group that goes by the acronym JNIM, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a non-profit organisation collecting data on the violence. (AP) GSP X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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