French Forces Free Five Kidnapped Malian Aid Workers
French forces have freed five Malian aid workers who were taken hostage in a February kidnapping claimed by one of the country's top jihadist groups, the presidents of France and Mali said Thursday.
"An operation by the French armed forces" freed the five workers -- four Red Cross employees and a veterinarian from another aid organization -- after "a terrorist group" kidnapped them on February 8 in Mali's restive north, the presidents said in a joint statement.
The hostages are in good health after the morning raid north of Timbuktu, the statement said.
The kidnapping was claimed by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), a splinter group of al-Qaida's regional franchise.
The five went missing along with their four-by-four vehicle on the roads between the towns of Kidal and Gao while working in the region.
A MUJAO leader, Yoro Abdoulsalam, claimed the kidnapping three days later, telling Agence France Presse: "Thanks to God we seized a four-by-four of the enemies of Islam with their accomplices."
MUJAO is one of the groups that occupied the north of Mali in 2012 before they were driven from the region's main cities by a French-led military offensive launched in January 2013.
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita thanked French counterpart Francois Hollande in the statement Thursday and sent him his "deep gratitude... for France's commitment to Mali since 2013".
The two presidents vowed to continue fighting "terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking" in the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert.
Source: Agence France Presse
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