Mali's government announced that 82 soldiers captured by armed groups in the north of the country have been released and handed over to government forces. The Malian military confirmed the information in a statement broadcast on state television on Thursday, adding that the soldiers had been detained by gunmen linked to al-Qaeda and a separatist rebel group after nationwide attacks in April.
According to the statement, the release was the result of a process initiated immediately after the soldiers were captured. Officials confirmed that those released are safe and under the care of the authorities.
The al-Qaeda-linked group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed responsibility for the series of attacks on April 25 targeting Bamako airport and other locations. Defense Minister Sadio Camara was killed in a bombing at his home in Kati. The two groups also claimed attacks on military positions across Mali on July 4.
In a statement on the same day, the FLA said it had released about 80 Malian soldiers captured between 2023 and 2026, but did not explain the discrepancy with the figure of 82 announced by the military. FLA spokesperson Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane said the release was carried out for "purely humanitarian" reasons and added that some soldiers had been detained since 2023, while about 118 others remain held.
A source from Mali's Foreign Ministry told AFP that Algeria mediated the release.
Mali has been in civil war since 2012, when a Tuareg separatist uprising in the north paved the way for armed campaigns by groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The military has led the country since the 2021 coup, vowing to restore order and national unity.
JNIM has grown stronger since Mali's military rulers expelled French forces and about 15,000 UN peacekeepers, turning instead to Russian paramilitary forces for defense support.
Although the FLA describes itself as a secular nationalist movement seeking independence for Mali's Azawad region, and JNIM is a pro-al-Qaeda group, the two have set aside ideological differences to jointly confront the Malian government.
