French soldiers killed in Burkina Faso raid to free foreign hostages
French Special Forces have freed two French hostages as well as an American and a South Korean in northern Burkina Faso in a military raid that cost the lives of two soldiers, the French presidency said Friday, May 10.
The military operation took place overnight in a bid to free the two French tourists, identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas, who disappeared in the remote Pendjari National Park in Benin on May 1.
French Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly identified the soldiers as Cédric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello, both with the French Navy Special Operations Forces (Commandos Marine) deployed with Operation Barkhane.
Parly thanked authorities in Benin and Burkina Faso, as well as the United States for its “precious support” in the operation.
President Emmanuel Macron “wants to congratulate the French armed forces for the liberation of the hostages, and includes everyone who worked alongside them,” a statement from the presidency said.
“He bows with emotion and solemnity before the sacrifice of our two soldiers who gave their lives to save those of our citizens,” the statement added.
The identity of the American and South Korean hostages was not immediately known, but they were both said to be women.
The two French tourists and their local guide went missing earlier this month in the wildlife reserve some 550 km (340 miles) north of Benin’s economic capital Cotonou.
The vehicle they were traveling in was found just across the border in Burkina Faso, a security source said Sunday, but there was little more for investigators to go on.
The four-wheel drive Toyota car “was found without its occupants” and so “the kidnapping theory is being favored, he said.
The France 24 news channel, citing regional sources, reported that the body of the driver had been found and that he had been shot dead.
Benin is considered an island of stability in West Africa, a troubled region where many jihadist groups operate, but Pendjari lies on the porous and remote border with Burkina Faso, hard-hit by militant violence.