Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released

<p>CASABLANCA, Morocco -- Four Moroccan truck drivers who were kidnapped in West Africa over the weekend were released in Niger, officials said. The drivers were the latest victims of insecurity in the Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara where militant groups such as the Islamic State Sahel Province have in recent years exploited local grievances to grow their ranks and expand their presence. The four were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital city of Niger, and had been on the road for more than 20 days traveling the 3,000-mile (4,950-kilometer) truck route when they were reported missing on Saturday, said the secretary-general of Morocco's Transport Union and a Moroccan official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the kidnapping. The Moroccan Embassy in Burkina Faso late on Monday informed the union 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 hauls remain missing, he added. The drivers elected not to travel with a military escort on the route between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. The Moroccan official said they went missing while traveling across the Burkinabe-Nigerien border, from the town of Dori to the town of Tera. Truckers are discouraged from traveling the route without security escorts. El Hachmi said the drivers were taken by an unnamed armed group to a remote forest. The Moroccan official said there was no evidence linking a particular group to the kidnapping. Moroccan authorities did not respond to questions about ransom. 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 in recent years and junta-led governments. In an attempt to combat insurgencies, they have replaced security partnerships with Western nations with mercenary groups including Russia's Africa Corps. According to the United Nations, terrorism and organized 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 or forcibly disappeared in the three countries, including 150 by IS-Sahel and an al-Qaida-linked group that goes by its acronym JNIM, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a non-profit organization collecting data on the violence.</p>