Two employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), kidnapped two weeks ago in northern Mali, were released on Sunday evening (19 March), the ICRC's Malian branch announced on Twitter. They had been kidnapped on March 4 between Gao and Kidal.
We confirm that the 2 ICRC staff members kidnapped on 4 March between Gao and Kidal in northern Mali were released this evening. Our colleagues are doing well and have been released unconditionally unharmed. We thank all those who contributed to their release.
— ICRC in Mali (@CICR_Mali) March 19, 2023
"Our colleagues are doing well and have been released safe and unconditionally," she said. The NGO "thanks all those who contributed to their release", without elaborating.
In February, a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor who had been abducted in late January in Mali was released.
Mali is in the grip of a security crisis, triggered by a regional revolt in the north that has turned into a jihadist insurgency.
The violence that has shaken this Sahelian country since 2012 is the work of jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, but also self-proclaimed militias and bandits.
The unrest has spread to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of civilians, police and military have been killed in the region, and more than two million people have fled their homes.
With AFP
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