Morrocan truck drivers kidnapped by Islamic State group released in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Four Moroccan truck drivers, who were kidnapped in January in West Africa by the Islamic State group and held captive for months, were released late Sunday, Malian authorities said.

The truckers were traveling 3,000 miles to transport electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital of Niger, before they were reported missing on January 18, 2025, in northeastern Burkina Faso, near the border with Niger.

The Malian government said in a statement read on public television late Monday the truck drivers were released “safe and sound” Sunday evening.

It added the four were held by the Islamic State in the Sahel Province, a subgroup of the Islamic state group. Malian public television showed video of the drivers wearing traditional Malian clothes in the company of junta leader Gen. Assimi Goïta.

The Malian government said their release was made possible thanks to the coordinated efforts between Mali’s National State Security Agency and Morocco’s foreign intelligence service.

Mali, along with neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups, the three countries expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for assistance, but the security situation has been deteriorating.

In May, extremist fighters abducted two Chinese nationals during an attack on an artisanal gold mining site in Mali.

In February, Moroccan authorities said they arrested a dozen people who were planning attacks on behalf of the Islamic State in the Sahel Province subgroup.

Morocco has worked to present itself as a regional leader and is forging deeper ties with countries in the Sahel. Foreign ministers of landlocked Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso said they were backing a Moroccan initiative granting them access to the Atlantic ocean using its ports.

Last year, Rabat mediated the release of four French intelligence agents held in Burkina Faso.

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Akram Oubachir reported from Rabat, Morocco.