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The
three foreigners and a member of the Burkinabe armed forces went
missing on Monday after an attack on a convoy of security
forces, forest rangers and expatriates, according to Burkina
Faso's government.
"Mr. Young was part of a group that on Monday morning was
attacked by unknown assailants in the eastern part of Burkina
Faso," the Irish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry has been in contact with his family and is liaising
with authorities and partners on the ground, it said.
Young was the co-founder and president of Chengeta Wildlife, a
charity that trains anti-poaching rangers in Africa. Born in
Zambia, he dedicated his life to wildlife protection, the
charity said.
He was leading a wildlife protection patrol in Burkina Faso's
Arly National Park when the team was attacked, Chengeta Wildlife
said in a statement. The two journalists were documenting his
efforts to protect wildlife, it said.
The journalists have been identified as David Beriain and
Roberto Fraile by Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who said
they were working on a documentary when they were killed.
Burkina Faso, like much of West Africa's Sahel region, faces a
deepening security crisis as groups with links to al Qaeda and
Islamic State step up attacks on the army and civilians despite
the presence of French and U.N. forces.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the ambush and Burkina
Faso's government said it had not identified the assailants,
whom it described as "terrorists".
(Writing by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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