Polish citizen kidnapped in eastern province of Burkina Faso freed

The Ministry of Defense was able to free a hostage of Polish origin who was kidnapped on the Matiakoali-Kantchari (east) road on April 27, 2022 (...) while on his way to Niger," Kaboré said at the end of the council of ministers.

The Pole, Bednarski Rafal Kamil, was released on June 24 and transferred to Ouagadougou on Tuesday where he was "officially handed over to the Polish authorities who sent a delegation" to Burkina Faso, she said.

The kidnapping of this Polish national had not been communicated by the Burkinabe authorities until his release, the conditions of which remain unclear.

Numerous foreign hostage-takings have taken place in recent years in Burkina Faso, which has faced jihadist attacks since 2015 that have left thousands dead and 1.9 million displaced.

In December 2018, an Italian-Canadian couple had disappeared on the road between Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou. They had been released in neighboring Mali after more than a year in captivity.

Previously, an Australian couple, Kenneth Elliot and his wife Jocelyn, were kidnapped in Djibo (north) on January 15, 2016, a kidnapping claimed by the jihadist group Ansar Dine.