Mali says 82 soldiers captured by armed groups have been freed

Mali says 82 of its soldiers held as prisoners by armed groups in the country’s north have been released into the government’s care.

The Malian army announced the release on Thursday in a statement aired on state television. It said the freed soldiers had been “held hostage” by al-Qaeda-linked fighters and a ⁠separatist rebel group since nationwide attacks in April.

“This release is the culmination of a process initiated immediately after their capture,” the statement said, adding that the soldiers were safe and in the care of authorities.

Al-Qaeda-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on April 25 targeting Bamako’s airport and several other locations. Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed in a bombing at his residence in Kati.

The two groups also claimed ‌responsibility for attacks on army positions across Mali on July 4.

The FLA said in a statement on Thursday that it had released about 80 Malian soldiers taken prisoner between 2023 and 2026. The group did not immediately explain the discrepancy with ⁠the army’s account that the soldiers ⁠had been held since the April 25 attacks.

Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the FLA, said that the release was conducted for “strictly humanitarian” reasons.

He added that some of the soldiers had been captive since 2023, and about 118 others remained held.

A source in Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the AFP news agency that the release was mediated by Algeria.

Mali has been fighting a civil war since 2012, when a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north gave way to armed campaigns by groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

The military has ruled the country since a 2021 coup, pledging to restore order and unite the country.

JNIM has gained in strength ‌since the Malian soldiers who seized power expelled French forces and some 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers, ‌and turned to Russian paramilitaries for defence support.

While FLA presents itself as a secular nationalist movement seeking independence for Mali’s Azawad region and JNIM is an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the two sides have set ideological differences aside to confront the Malian government.