Romanian having French citizenship kidnapped in attack at a mine in Burkina Faso. Family called to MAE for discussions

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A Romanian security guard employed by a mining company owned by businessman Frank Timis was kidnapped on Saturday in Burkina Faso by armed individuals, sources say.

In turn, the site info-afrique.com, which quotes the correspondent in Burkina Faso, confirmed the kidnapping of a European called Gherghu? Iulian of Romanian origin having French citizenship. According to witnesses, a policeman who tried to intervene was injured by assailants armed with AK 47 Kalashnikov guns.

“There was an attack on one of our patrols,” said Souleymane Mihin, Burkina Faso managing director for Pan African Minerals. “They kidnapped the Romanian leading the patrol. The driver was wounded in the foot. A gendarme was seriously injured.”

The Romanian foreign ministry issued a statement confirming the kidnapping of a Romanian in Burkina Faso and said a crisis cell had been set up to handle the case.

A Burkinabe security source said the five gunmen involved in the attack headed towards the nearby border with northern Mali after kidnapping the Romanian.

The incident took place early afternoon and teams had been scrambled in Burkina Faso to search for the man, he said. It was not clear where the gunmen came from.

There was no official comment from the Burkinabe government.

MAE discusses with family

The family of the Romanian citizen abducted on Saturday by armed people in Burkina Faso was invited on Sunday at the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) to discuss with the representatives of the ministry’s task force working on this incident, the Spokesperson and Communication Directorate of the MAE informed.

Issues of the current situation of the Romanian citizen were presented during the meeting; there is a continuous dialogue with his family to communicate the evolutions as soon as they are available.

The task force keeps taking all the legal steps for the rescue operations.

It was convened at the MAE on Saturday, immediately after information on the situation of the Romanian citizen was received; it works around the clock through the representatives of the MAE and of other institutions with national security responsibilities — the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) and the Ministry of National Defence (MoD), the MAE release reads.

The Romanian diplomatic missions in the regions are working under the direct coordination of the task force; they are on the highest alert level and permanently in contact with all the relevant local authorities.

Given the sensitive situation of the abducted man, no personal data on him or other information that might endanger his life or the operations to release him can be published, the aforementioned document points out.

The authorities in Ouagadougou are going to search the kidnappers in Mali and Niger, on the northern border of Burkina Faso.

 

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