(CNN) — A French hostage in Burkina Faso, freed in an overnight rescue this week in which two soldiers were killed, described the experience as “hell.” Laurent Lassimouillas was freed along with another Frenchman, an American woman and a South Korean woman in a French-led operation with the support of the US military. The rescue occurred between Thursday and Friday in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. “I want to thank French authorities and Burkina Faso ones,” Lassimouillas told reporters at the presidential palace in the capital of Ouagadougou before a meeting with Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Burkina Faso’s President. “Our thoughts are for the families of the soldiers and the soldiers who lost their (lives) to free us from this hell,” he added, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. Lassimouillas, his compatriot, Patrick Picque, and the South Korean landed safely Saturday at a French air force base outside Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron greeted them. The former hostages will receive a full health examination. The American woman was “directly collected by the Americans” in Burkina Faso, a press officer for France’s Élysée Palace told CNN. The French citizens were kidnapped May 1 in the neighboring West African country of Benin, according to the Élysée Palace. Their safari guide was found dead in Pendjari National Park, and their vehicle was burned, Reuters reported. Four terrorists were killed in the rescue operation, Florence Parly, the French minister for the armed forces, said Friday. The minister said investigations were underway to identify the kidnappers, noting that networks affiliated with al Qaeda and ISIS are known to operate in the area. Handout/AFP French soldiers Cedric de Pierrepont, left, and Alain Bertoncello were killed in the mission. The US military supported the French-led operation to free the four hostages, according to two US officials. One official said that the US support was in the form of overhead intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. French soldiers Cedric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello were killed in the operation. The two will be honored in a national tribute Tuesday, Macron said. “They gave their lives to release others,” the French leader wrote on Twitter. “From now on, let us carry our thoughts to their families and brothers of arms.” CNN’s Antoine Crouin reported from Paris, while Rob Picheta wrote in London. CNN’s Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Advertising Read more Paris (AFP) A South Korean hostage rescued by French special forces in Burkina Faso last week was a tourist travelling in the region who had been seized close to the border with Benin, an embassy official said on Monday. The woman, who has not been named, was flown to Paris on Saturday after being rescued in a raid by French commandoes overnight Thursday-Friday in which two soldiers died. "She was just travelling, she wasn't working. She had been on the road for close to one year," an official in the South Korean embassy in Paris told AFP. He added that the "regular tourist" had asked for her identity to be kept private. She had previously visited Senegal and Mali in west Africa, as well as other countries during a major trip from her home,a region "in the middle of South Korea," the official said. She was snatched around a month ago by armed men while attempting to cross by car from Burkina Faso into neighbouring Benin, apparently along with an American woman who was also rescued by the French forces. "That is my understanding (that the women were together), but we don't speak for the American lady," the official added. The US government has declined to comment about its national, but the ABC news channel has reported she was also a tourist, aged in her 60s. - 'Going home' - The South Korean woman, who appeared in between the two French hostages as they made a statement to the media on Saturday in Paris, has been admitted for a medical check up at a military hospital in Paris. "She doesn't have any particular problems," the official said. "She will be going back home, today or tomorrow." The embassy official confirmed that the woman had been held for 27-28 days in captivity and had been "moved from one place to another a few times". Asked about the identity of the hostage-takers, "she said she didn't know," the official added. "We dont know. You have to check with the French government." The official confirmed that the South Korean government had been unaware that one of its citizens was being held in the area. France's defence minister, Florence Parly, had previously told reporters that French forces staging the rescue had been surprised to find the South Korean and American women being held hostage alongside the two French tourists. - Freed from 'hell' - Parly did not say who was responsible for the kidnappings, but said the hostage-takers were planning to transfer their victims to Islamist groups in Mali who are aligned to either Al-Qaeda or Islamic State. The French hostages, Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas, admitted that they should have heeded the French foreign ministry's advice on avoiding risky areas after they were seized in Benin close to the border with Burkina Faso. "We certainly should have better taken into account the government's advice as well as the complexities of Africa," Lassimouillas said in a statement. "Our first thoughts go to the families of the soldiers who freed us from this hell," he added. French President Emmanuel Macron will lead a commemoration ceremony for the slain commandoes in Paris on Tuesday at the Invalides military hospital and museum. ? 2019 AFP<doc-sep>Francois Guillot, Pool, Reuters | French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Defence Minister Florence Parly walk alongside freed French hostages Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas and a South Korean hostage as they arrive in Paris, May 11, 2019 Three former hostages, including two French nationals, arrived in Paris on Saturday evening after being rescued from a militant group in Burkina Faso by French special forces in a night-time raid. Two of the soldiers were killed in the operation. Advertising Read more The two French former hostages, Laurent Lassimouillas, 46, and Patrick Picque, 51, were met by French President Emmanuel Macron, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Defence Minister Florence Parly at Villacoublay military airport. "France's message to terrorists is clear: those who want to attack France, the French, should know that we will hunt them, we will find them, and we will kill them," Parly said. A South Korean embassy official was present to greet the unnamed third hostage. An American female hostage also freed in the nighttime rescue on Thursday was handed over to US officials in Burkina Faso. 'Co-operation of terror groups raises risks in Sahel' Addressing reporters at the airport Saturday, Lassimouillas admitted that he and Picque should have heeded the French foreign ministry's advice to avoid risky areas of Benin. "We certainly should have better taken into account the government's advice as well as the complexities of Africa," he said. "Our first thoughts go to the families of the soldiers who freed us from this hell," he continued. A ceremony of national tribute will be held at the Invalides military hospital and mausoleum in Paris on Tuesday for the two soldiers who were killed in this “highly complex operation”, as Parly described the raid on Friday. Kidnapped tourists were in Benin 'red zone' Lassimouillas and Picque disappeared during a tour of Pendjari National Park in Benin on May 1. They were seized by kidnappers in an area of Benin that France has long advised travellers to avoid, Le Drian pointed out earlier on Saturday. "The zone where our two citizens were has for some time now been considered a red zone, which means it's a zone where you shouldn't go, where you're taking significant risks if you do go," Le Drian told Europe 1 radio. French tourists warned to avoid Benin's 'red zone' The foreign ministry's travel advisory website lists the areas of northern Benin near the border with Burkina Faso as "Formally Discouraged," including Pendjari National Park. It warns of "the presence of armed terrorist groups and the risk of kidnapping". The disfigured body of their guide was found shortly after they were reported missing, along with their abandoned Toyota truck. Intelligence agencies tracked their captors across the semi-desert terrain of eastern Burkina Faso, where it appeared they would soon cross the border into Mali. Officials feared the hostages would be handed over to the Macina Liberation Front (FLM), a jihadist group formed in 2015 that is aligned with al Qaeda in the region. Macron gave the order for the nighttime raid on the militants' camp on Thursday. The French commandos were unaware of the presence of the American and South Korean hostages, officials said. 'France's duty is to rescue its citizens wherever they are' Although Benin has long been spared the unrest seen in Mali and Burkina Faso, French officials have warned that jihadist insurgents could extend their operations into the sparsely populated desert regions further south. "The threat is evolving and has become much more mobile, and now countries to the south of Mali have become targets," Le Drian said on Saturday. "The greatest precautions must be taken in these regions to avoid these types of kidnappings, and avoid the sacrifices required by our soldiers," he said. France's Operation Barkhane counts some 4,500 troops deployed in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad to help local forces battle jihadist groups. The raid on the kidnappers was led by the elite Hubert commando unit of the French naval special forces, which was deployed to the Sahel at the end of March. They were assisted by Burkina and Benin authorities and by the United States, which provided intelligence and support. A total of 24 French soldiers have died in the region since 2013 when France intervened to drive back jihadist groups who had taken control of northern Mali. (FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS) Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe<doc-sep>PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron greeted three ex-hostages as they arrived on French soil Saturday, one day after a pre-dawn military operation freed them in Burkina Faso but cost the lives of two French special forces officers, as well as four "terrorists." The two French citizens, tourists Patrick Picque et Laurent Lassimouillas, as well as an unidentified South Korean national, arrived on the tarmac at Villacoublay military airport. The French tourists failed to return from a visit last week to the Pendjari National Park wildlife reserve in Benin, and their guide was discovered dead. Officials said the hostages and their captors were in transit in Burkina Faso and the kidnappers intended to take them to Mali. Macron, who attended their arrival in France alongside Defence Minister Florence Parly, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Francois Lecointre, didn't make a statement and will address the hostages' ordeal and the soldiers' deaths publicly next week. A military ceremony for the commandos is planned. A fourth hostage, an American woman, was also successfully rescued. It was not immediately known when and where the American and the South Korean were kidnapped. Parly had called the rescue "an operation of rare difficulty" that grew more complex with the discovery of the American and South Korean hostages being held with the French citizens. Earlier Saturday, Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore received the French and South Korean citizens in the presidential palace in the capital, Ouagadougou. Kabore tweeted Saturday he wished them a "safe return to their respective families." Macron has thanked authorities in Burkina Faso and Benin for their co-operation and promised them support in fighting terrorism.<doc-sep>
Three hostages freed by French commandos from militants in Burkina Faso have arrived in Paris, expressing sorrow at the death of two French soldiers in the rescue operation. President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the hostages as they stepped off the French government jet overnight (Saturday local time). It comes less than 48 hours after French special forces stormed their captors’ hide-out in a daring night-time raid. The two Frenchmen, identified as Patrick Picque and Laurent Lassimouillas were kidnapped while on safari in Benin more than a week earlier. An American woman and a South Korean woman were being held with them and were liberated in the high-risk mission authorised by Macron. The American, who has not been identified, was being repatriated separately. “All our thoughts go to the families of the soldiers and to the soldiers who lost their lives to free us from this hell,” Laurent Lassimouillas said as he met Burkinabe President Roch Kabore in Ouagadougou. The French government identified the two soldiers killed as Cedric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello. Macron will lead a national tribute to the men, both officers in the naval special forces, at the Les Invalides military hospital and mausoleum in Paris on Tuesday. Lassimouillas also expressed regret over the death of the Beninese park guide, who was shot dead when the two tourists were kidnapped. French officials said on Friday it was not yet clear who had kidnapped the tourists in Benin but that their captors planned to hand them over to an al- Qaeda affiliate in neighbouring Mali. Jihadist groups with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have expanded their presence across west Africa’s Sahel region, a strip of scrubland beneath the Sahara desert, in recent years and taken a number of Western hostages. France, the former colonial power in the region, intervened in Mali in 2013 to halt an advance by Islamist militants and has kept about 4500 troops in the Sahel since then. Defence Minister Florence Parly said the message to terrorists was clear. “Those who want to attack France, the French, should know that we will hunt them, we will find them, and we will kill them,” he said. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was doing all it could to secure the release of another French hostage, Sophie Petronin, who was kidnapped by gunmen in December 2016 in the northern Malian city of Gao.