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Burkina Faso ambush: Spaniards and Irishman killed after abduction

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Two Spanish journalists and an Irish national abducted near a nature reserve in eastern Burkina Faso have been killed.

The Europeans were part of an anti-poaching patrol that was ambushed by gunmen near Pama Reserve on Monday.

Burkina Faso government officials confirmed their deaths on Tuesday. A local soldier was also abducted, but his status is unknown.

It remains unclear who carried out the attack.

The West African country is facing a deepening security crisis, like many of its neighbors, as Islamist armed groups carry out raids and kidnappings across much of the region.

The patrol on Monday included soldiers, forest rangers and foreign reporters.

Two soldiers wounded in the ambush told the Associated Press (AP) news agency the attack had been launched by jihadists who had outnumbered the patrol.

One of the soldiers was shot in the leg and the other in his arm, causing it to be amputated, according to AP. The soldiers said they had tried to form a protective shield around the foreigners, but realised when the shooting stopped that they had disappeared.

Vehicles and weapons were also seized in the attack.

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