Two of the elite naval commandos were killed during a French operation to rescue four foreign hostages including two French citizens from a militant group in Burkina Faso, France's military revealed yesterday.
French special forces carried out the raid under cover of dark over the night of Thursday-Friday, supported by U.S. intelligence and troops from France's Barkhane operation deployed in the Sahel region to counter extremist militants.
All four hostages were safe, President Emmanuel Macron's office said, adding that a U.S. woman and a South Korean woman were also freed in the covert operation.
"The precise and determined actions of French soldiers allowed us to take out the kidnappers while protecting the lives of the hostages," France's army chief Francois Lecointre told a news conference, describing the militant group as "terrorists". Four kidnappers were killed and two escaped, he said.
The French forces had not been aware of the presence of the U.S. and South Korean hostages ahead of the operation and they had been held for 28 days, Lecointre said.
"We were not aware of their presence ... the American will be repatriated separately," Parly said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said the United States was grateful for the successful recovery of the hostages, including a U.S. citizen, and offered condolences to the families of the two solders killed.
Burkina Faso's President Roch Kabore hailed the hostages' release and offered condolences to the soldiers' families.
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