Four foreign hostages have been freed by French forces in the West African country of Burkina Faso, the French government says.
Two of those released were French, while the other two were said to be an American woman and a South Korean woman, it said.
Two French soldiers were killed during the rescue raid, the statement from the French presidency said.
The hostages had been kidnapped in neighbouring Benin earlier this month.
Their release was secured through a military operation conducted on Thursday night in the north of Burkina Faso, the Elysée palace said.
Frenchmen Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas disappeared in the remote Pendjari National Park in Benin on 1 May.
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