Mali’s military announced Thursday that 82 of its soldiers, held captive by armed groups in the country’s northern region, have been freed. In a statement broadcast on state television, the army confirmed the soldiers were safe and in the care of government authorities.
According to the military’s statement, the soldiers had been detained following a series of attacks in April. The government described the release as “the culmination of a process initiated immediately after their capture.”
The groups involved in the captures include the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front (FLA). Both organizations had previously claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on April 25 that targeted multiple locations, including Bamako’s airport.
In a separate statement on Thursday, the FLA said it had released approximately 80 Malian soldiers. Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the FLA, stated the release was conducted for “strictly humanitarian” reasons. Ramadane added that some of the soldiers had been held since 2023 and that about 118 other service members remain in captivity. The group did not immediately clarify the discrepancy between its timeline and the army’s statement that the soldiers were captured in April.
A source in Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the AFP news agency that the nation of Algeria mediated the release.
The development occurs amid ongoing conflict in Mali, which began in 2012 with a Tuareg separatist rebellion in the north that evolved to include campaigns by groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL. A military government has ruled the country since a 2021 coup, pledging to restore state authority.
In recent years, the Malian government has altered its foreign security partnerships, ending collaborations with French forces and a United Nations peacekeeping mission while engaging Russian paramilitary groups for security assistance. The FLA, which identifies as a secular nationalist movement, and the al-Qaeda-affiliated JNIM have formed an alliance to confront the Malian government.
