Mali says 82 of its soldiers held prisoner since April have been freed
Mali's army said 82 of its soldiers who had been held prisoner since nationwide attacks in April by al Qaeda-linked militants and a rebel group were freed on Thursday.
Mali's army announced on Thursday that 82 soldiers captured since April have been released. The insurgents responsible for the April 25 attacks that targeted the nation's main airport and led to the death of the defence minister are the regional al Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and the Tuareg-led rebel group, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).
The two groups claimed responsibility for the attacks and also for assaults on army positions across Mali on July 4. The army confirmed the soldiers were held captive by "armed terrorist groups affiliated with the JNIM-FLA coalition" and credited the liberation to meticulous planning and the coordinated deployment of necessary capabilities to execute such an operation.
However, the FLA stated on Thursday that it had freed 82 Malian soldiers taken prisoner during clashes between 2023 and 2026, without providing clarification on the discrepancy with the army's claim of the soldiers being held since April 25. Mali has been battling insurgencies since 2012. The Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), founded in 2017, has grown stronger since Malian soldiers seized power during coups in 2020 and 2021, which expelled approximately 15,000 French and U.N. soldiers and led them to seek defense support from Russian mercenaries.
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