Gunmen on Saturday kidnapped a Romanian security guard from a mine in northern Burkina Faso and fled with him towards the border with Mali, security sources in both countries said.
The man was seized when five armed men attacked the manganese mine in Tambao, a high-ranking Burkinabe army official said, adding that one police officer was "badly injured" in the assault.
"The perpetrators of the abduction were heading for the Malian border, we have sent men to try to intercept them," a Malian security source said.