NewsTracker Answers for week of May 13, 2019

Q: Three of the hostages freed by French commandos from militants in Burkina Faso arrived in Paris on Saturday, expressing sorrow at the death of two French soldiers in the rescue operation. Where is the West African nation of Burkina Faso?

Circle the area on this map


Q: A special forces team rescued last week two Frenchmen kidnapped while on safari in Benin as well as an American woman and a South Korean woman who were being held with them. Benin is ...

A. North of Burkina Faso

B. South of Burkina Faso

C. Southeast of Burkina Faso

D. Southwest of Burkina Faso


C. Burkina Faso is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo and Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. French officials believed that the hostages’ captors planned to hand them over to an al Qaeda affiliate in Mali.


Q: Jihadist groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their presence across West Africa’s Sahel region, a strip of scrubland bordering which desert?

A. Arabian

B. Gobi

C. Kalahari

D. Sahara


D. The Sahel is a semi-arid region that stretches across Africa along the southern border of the Sahara Desert. The Sahara is largest hot desert in the world and third largest overall after Antarctica and the Arctic.


Q: It is estimated that 69 different languages are spoken in Burkina Faso? What is the official language?

A. English

B. French

C. Mande

D. Mossi


B. Most of the people speak indigenous languages like Mossi or one of the Mande languages. But the official language is French, which was introduced under France’s colonial rule of the region. French is the principal language of administrative, political and judicial institutions, public services, and the press.


Q: France has 4,500 troops based in the Sahel region where 24 French soldiers have died since 2013, when France intervened to drive back jihadist rebels in which neighbor of Burkina Faso?

A. Mali

B. Niger

C. Togo

D. Benin


A. The raid to free the hostages took place at night in the north of Burkina Faso as the kidnappers stopped on their journey towards Mali. Islamist rebels overran much of northern Mali in 2012, and were joined by several jihadist groups in imposing strict Sharia law on the area. Troops from France and several African nations later helped Mali’s government regain control, but low-level fighting continues.