Soldiers rescued a group of 62 women and four babies abducted by suspected extremists last week in northern Burkina Faso, state television and a security source said.
The news came just hours after security sources said a series of attacks on Thursday had left around 30 people dead in the volatile West African nation that has been battling an extremist insurgency since 2015.
The abduction of the women and babies last week prompted alarm from the United Nations, while the country's military junta warned of a rise in militant attacks on civilians.
In its main evening news bulletin, Burkina Faso's RTB channel, referring to an army "operation", showed images of the women freed on Friday and brought to the capital Ouagadougou.
Several security sources confirmed the news to AFP.
The women and babies were abducted last week on Thursday and Friday near Arbinda, in the northern Sahel region, as they foraged for food outside their village.
Security sources said they were found in the Tougouri region, 200 kilometres further south. Helicopters flew them to Ouagadougou, where they were met by senior army officers.
"Their debriefing will allow us to know more about their abductors, their detention and their convoy," said one security source.
The authorities had mobilised search teams both on the ground and in the air to trace the women.
Parts of Burkina Faso, including the Sahel region, have for months been under a blockade by militant groups in the region, making it increasingly difficult to supply the communities there.
The resulting shortages forced local people to leave the safety of their villages to search for food.
News of the women's return came as security sources reported four attacks by suspected militant attacks on Thursday, killing 30 people, including 16 members of a civilian auxiliary supporting the army.
The "first attack targeted an advance party of Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland (VDP) in Rakoegtenga," in the northern province of Bam, a VDP official said on condition of anonymity.
Six auxiliaries and a woman were killed, he said, and around 10 people were wounded.
The second attack, an ambush on a convoy escorted by auxiliaries and soldiers, killed around 10 auxiliaries and a person in Nayala province in the north-west, he added.
Security sources confirmed two militant attacks but gave no precise death toll.
The VDP, set up in December 2019, comprises civilian volunteers who are given two weeks of military training and then work alongside the army, typically carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
Security sources said two other incidents linked to armed militant groups had been recorded on Thursday. In the north-central province of Sanmatenga, a joint military and VDP team was targeted in Zincko, said one source.
"About 10 terrorists were neutralised (killed). Unfortunately, four civilians were also killed," the source said.
Later Thursday, gunmen raided the town of Sanaba in Banwa province, killing eight civilians.
These were just the latest attacks to hit army volunteers supporting the military in their seven-year fight against militants affiliated with Al Qaeda and ISIS.
The insurgency has claimed the lives of thousands and driven at least two million others to flee their homes.
Captain Ibrahim Traore, leader of the military junta that seized power last September, said in his end-of-year address in December that his aim was to "recapture the territory occupied by the hordes of terrorists".
He warned last week that the extremists were switching tactics to "focus on civilians".
In recent months, the new regime expressed its willingness to work with Russia, which has been supplying weapons to the military regime in neighbouring Mali.
The presence of France, which has around 400 special soldiers operating in the country, has become more and more controversial.
Several hundred demonstrators in Ouagadougou Friday called for France's ambassador to leave the country and for the closure of a French military base.
French troops withdrew from Mali last year, after relations with the military regime there deteriorated as it drew closer to Russia.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
