Suspected jihadists have kidnapped at least 50 women in Burkina Faso.

Local residents said the women were kidnapped where they had been gathering fruits amid a severe food shortage bedevilling the region.

“The women got together to go and gather leaves and wild fruits in the bush because there is nothing left to eat,” a resident had narrated to AFP.

“On Thursday evening, when they didn’t come back, we thought that their carts had had a problem. But three survivors came back to tell us what happened,” corroborated another resident.

Arbinda is among the regions worst hit by the insurgency in Burkina Faso. All entry and exit points in and out of the area have been barricaded by the jihadists, leaving residents to suffer lack.