Abidjan – Six Ivorians working for a government refugee office have been “kidnapped” and taken over the border by members of a civilian volunteer force supporting Burkina Faso’s army, a local deputy told AFP Wednesday, confirming media reports.
Ivory Coast has had tense relations with Burkina Faso since a military coup brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power in the Sahel nation in 2022.
The west African neighbours have traded accusations of attempted destabilisation, with Traore blaming his neighbour for harbouring his opponents, which Ivory Coast denies.
A porous and poorly marked border spanning nearly 600 kilometres (around 370 miles) divides the two nations.
🇨🇮|#CôtedIvoire: Armed men entered the country from Burkina and attacked Difita, 2km from the border, allegedly searching for VDP they believed had taken refuge in the village. The attackers, likely JNIM, burned 20 houses, killed four, injured one, and kidnapped another on 24/08. pic.twitter.com/IayyJWQac9
— Charlie Werb (@WerbCharlie) August 26, 2025
Six members of Ivory Coast’s Directorate for Aid and Assistance to Refugees and Stateless Persons (DAARA) on Sunday set off to identify refugees in a northeastern village near the border with Burkina Faso, a local deputy said on condition of anonymity.
“They were kidnapped and taken away” to Burkina Faso by members of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP), which backs the Burkinabe military in the fight against jihadists, the deputy said.
Neither country has released a statement on the incident.
More than 80,000 refugees from Burkina have fled to Ivory Coast to escape years of violent attacks by Islamist insurgents or rights abuses by the civilian volunteer force.
Unidentified armed men killed four villagers in northeastern Ivory Coast near Burkina Faso overnight Sunday to Monday, the army said on Tuesday.
It was the first such deadly attack in the west African country since 2021.
The local deputy said there appeared to be “no link” between the attack and the kidnappings.
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Source: AFP
