Four Moroccan truck drivers vanished on Saturday while crossing the volatile border region between Burkina Faso and Niger, a Moroccan embassy official in Burkina Faso and a transport union representative confirmed.
The drivers, traveling in three trucks—one of which carried a spare driver—disappeared en route from Dori in Burkina Faso to Tera in Niger, an area notorious for jihadist activity, according to the embassy source.
Burkina Faso and Niger, both led by military juntas, are grappling with Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have destabilized the Sahel region for over a decade.
The Moroccan embassy is collaborating with authorities in Burkina Faso to locate the missing drivers, the source added.
Burkinabe authorities have been organizing security convoys to safeguard trucks in the border area against militant attacks. However, the drivers proceeded without an escort after waiting for a week, said Echarki El Hachmi, Secretary-General of Morocco’s transporters’ union.
The trucks, loaded with infrastructure equipment, began their journey weeks ago from Casablanca bound for Niger, El Hachmi said, calling for increased protection for Moroccan drivers as cross-border transport in the Sahel expands.
Earlier this month, Moroccan trucks faced another security incident when a convoy was attacked near the Malian border with Mauritania, though no casualties were reported, El Hachmi noted.