https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...fc2ee80027a_story.html?utm_term=.303449e2878f
DAKAR, Senegal — French forces have freed four hostages — including an American citizen — in the West African nation of Burkina Faso, where militant Islamist violence is surging, the French government said Friday.
The military raid resulted in the deaths of two French soldiers late Thursday during a confrontation in the country’s north. That stretch of largely ungoverned land has become a hotbed of extremism in recent years as insurgents spilled over the border from Mali.