Two Austrians kidnapped near Burkina Faso's border with Mali

Ouagadougou: Two Austrian citizens, a doctor and his wife, were kidnapped overnight in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali, the West African nation's security ministry said on Saturday.

The kidnapping occurred in the Baraboule area, the ministry said in a message sent to reporters.

It was not immediately clear whether the abduction was linked to an attack carried out by al Qaeda fighters against a hotel in the country's capital late on Friday.