Family of Canadian kidnapped at Burkina mine 'hopeful'

A Canadian has been kidnapped by armed militants from a gold mine in eastern Burkina Faso, a region battling a rise in extremist violence and lawlessness, a senior government official said.

Geologist Kirk Woodman is the vice president of Canadian company Progress Minerals, mining sources told AFP, which owns the mine in volatile Yagha province near the borders with Niger and Mali.

"The agents who were working were attacked by about ten armed men who rounded up the staff. They took the expat with them," the Burkina's security minister Clement Sawadogo said Wednesday, adding that Progress Minerals was exploring at the gold site.

The raid happened on Tuesday evening, he added.

"We have faith and trust in Canadian authorities to bring our husband and father home safe. We are hopeful for a fast resolution to the situation," Woodman's family said in a statement.

Canada currently has 250 soldiers and eight army helicopters deployed in neighbouring Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

Kidnappings have increased in the impoverished Sahel state, which has been battling a rising wave of jihadist attacks over the last three years.

Earlier this month a Canadian woman taking part in a humanitarian aid program was reported missing after travelling in the West African country with an Italian friend.

Edith Blais, 34, and her friend, Lucas Tacchetto, 30, from Venice, were last seen on December 15.

The pair were supposed to travel by car to Togo for a humanitarian aid project with Zion'Gaia, which engages in reforestation projects, but they never arrived.

"Everything is being done to find" the three kidnapped expats, Clement added.

Canadian Foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is in contact with Burkina authorities.

Ethnic violence left four dozen people dead in Burkina Faso at the start of the year, and a state of emergency was decreed in several provinces in the wake of recurrent jihadist attacks.

Initially concentrated in the north of the country, attacks have spread to other regions, including in the east, bordering Togo and Benin.

Attributed to jihadist groups including Ansarul Islam and the Support Group to Islam and Muslims, the violence has claimed some 270 lives since 2015.

The Canadian foreign ministry has cautioned its nationals to avoid non-essential travel in Burkina Faso because of the "terrorist threat."

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