PARIS: French special forces have freed two French hostages, an American and a South Korean in northern Burkina Faso in an overnight raid in which two soldiers died, authorities announced on Friday .
"No one was aware of presence," French Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters, while French armed forces chief Francois Lecointre said. Parly said it was"too early to say" who had snatched the two French nationals from Benin, which has long been an island of stability in a region where Islamist militants are increasingly active.
The FLM is a militant group formed in 2015 and headed by a radical Malian preacher, Amadou Koufa. It is aligned with Al-Qaeda in the region.In a statement, Macron congratulated the special forces on the operation, in which he also expressed sorrow over the death of the two soldiers"who gave their lives to save those of our citizens".
American special forces and drones are also known to operate in the violence-wracked Sahel region, which France fears could become further destabilised as militant groups are pushed out of north Africa, Iraq and Syria. The two freed men will be flown back to France on Saturday, alongside the South Korean woman, where they will be met on arrival by Macron and other top French officials.
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