In Mali, 18 hostages including 17 soldiers were released
A Malian soldier between Mopti and Djenne in February 2020 (Illustration image).
© MICHELE CATTANI/AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
For the most part, they are soldiers of the Malian armed forces (Fama) retained by jihadist groups.
Some had been prisoners for almost three years.
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In a press release, the Malian authorities announced Friday evening the release of 17 soldiers and a civilian kidnapped by armed groups.
Some of them had been prisoners of their jailers since 2019. The identity of the hostages and the conditions under which they were released were not given.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the transitional authorities, 18 hostages, including one civilian and 17 soldiers, were released this evening from the hands of their captors.
It should be noted that some of them had been held in captivity since 2019. pic.twitter.com/nGuL6mZdgj
— Presidency Mali (@PresidenceMali) February 25, 2022
Ibrahima Kebe, the chief commissioner of the political association Faso Kanu, explains why Bamako did not want to give all the details:
There is a lot of information that remains unobtainable today.
Maybe it's for the sake of wanting to save the other hostages because the circumstances of their release have not been noted by the authorities.
[...] The Fama have arrested many terrorists lately.
So we can ask ourselves the question: is it thanks to them that they were able to find the hostages or did the terrorists trade their freedom against that of the hostages?
Ibrahima Kebe on the release of the 18 hostages in Mali
Nadia Ben Mahfoudh
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