Malian forces patrol the streets of Timbuktu, Mali, Sept 26, 2021.
(MOULAYE SAYAH / AP)
BAMAKO – Security forces in Mali have freed three Chinese nationals abducted from a construction site in the north of the country in July, the presidency said on Monday.
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On July 17, the three Chinese nationals from the COVEC construction company were seized by unknown gunmen alongside two Mauritanians with ATTM, a road-building company, 55 km from the town of Kwala.
"While saluting the courage of the three former hostages, the president … also congratulated the various armed forces for their professionalism," Mali's presidency said in a statement on Facebook.
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Kidnapping has been a lucrative source of cash for Islamist groups in West Africa's Sahel region, where they are waging an expanding insurgency against national armies, French forces and UN peacekeepers.
Earlier this month, a Colombian nun was freed after being kidnapped by Islamist militants near the Burkina Faso border in 2017.