Canadian geologist kidnapped in Burkina Faso found dead


PTI | Ouagadougou | Updated: 18-01-2019 00:49 IST | Created: 18-01-2019 00:49 IST
Canadian geologist kidnapped in Burkina Faso found dead

Ouagadougou, Jan 17 (AFP) A Canadian geologist kidnapped at a remote gold mine in northeast Burkina Faso by suspected jihadists has been found dead, the ministry of security told AFP on Thursday.

A body found with gunshot wounds late Wednesday is that of Kirk Woodman, "the Canadian who was kidnapped the day before yesterday," ministerial spokesman Jean-Paul Badoum said.

Earlier, a security official said the body of a "white man with gunshot wounds" had been found in Siega in Soum province.

The body "is being taken to Dori for identification," the source said. Another security source said the remains would then be flown by helicopter to Ouagadougou.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country was "appalled and deeply saddened" by the killing.

"Canada condemns those responsible for this terrible crime. We are working with the government of Burkina Faso and other international partners to pursue those responsible and bring them to justice," she said.

Woodman is one of two Canadians who have gone missing in Burkina Faso, an impoverished country in the front line of a jihadist rebellion in the Sahel.

He was vice president of a Canadian company, Progress Minerals, which owns a gold mine at Tiabangou, located in Yagha, a volatile province near the Niger and Mali border.

He was at the mine when the site came under attack from about 10 armed men, Security Minister Clement Sawadogo said on Wednesday.

The assailants "rounded up the staff. They searched the base camp and made off with some equipment. They took the expatriate with them," he said.

Woodman had arrived in the country just on January 10, Sawadogo added.

In mid-December, 34-year-old Canadian aid worker Edith Blais was reported missing with an Italian friend, Lucas Tacchetto, 30, as they were travelling between the western town of Bobo-Dioulasso and the capital Ouagadougou. AFP

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(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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