On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the abduction of some 50 girls and women in the surroundings of Arbinda, in the northern Sahel region of Burkina Faso, on January 12 and January 13, and called for their immediate safe return.

RTB reported on Friday that 62 abducted women and four infants had been freed by the military.

Guterres had urged local authorities to spare no efforts in bringing those responsible for the abduction to justice.

Burkina Faso has been struggling to counter an uprising of radical jihadists that spread into the country from neighboring Mali in 2015, affecting the Sahel region the most.

(With UNI inputs)