Bamako – Four Moroccan truck drivers who had been seized by Islamic State militants in an area near the Burkina Faso-Niger border in January have been released “safe and sound”, Mali’s government said Monday.
The four men appeared on national television along with the head of Mali’s junta, President Assimi Goita.
They had been “kidnapped in northeast Burkina Faso, near the border with Niger” before being released Sunday, according to a statement read on national television.
The men were in Islamic State custody, the statement said.
🔴Le #Mali libère 4 Marocains enlevés par les obscurantistes #Maroc pic.twitter.com/GZqgX7Ekw8
— Malivox.net 🇲🇱 (@malivox) August 4, 2025
The Niger government in late January said it had recovered their vehicles, which were carrying equipment destined for Niger’s state power company NIGELEC and had been traveling without a security escort.
1/1 Le Gvt de la République du Mali informe l’opinion nationale et internationale que quatre chauffeurs routiers marocains enlevés le 18 janvier 2025, au nord-est du Burkina Faso près de la frontière avec le Niger, ont été libérés sains et saufs dans la soirée du 03 août 2025. pic.twitter.com/qqBe7kHorg
— Presidence Mali (@PresidenceMali) August 4, 2025
Armed groups affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda have been active over the past decade in Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali – three countries ruled by military regimes resulting from coups carried out between 2020 and 2023.
Cooperation between Malian and Moroccan officials led to the successful release of the four men, the Malian government said.
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Picture: X/@PresidenceMali
Source: AFP
