Two employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were kidnapped on Saturday March 4 in Mali, the Malian branch of the NGO announced on Twitter.
“We confirm the kidnapping of two of our colleagues this morning between Gao and Kidal”says the ICRC. “Present in Mali for thirty-two years, the ICRC is a neutral, independent and impartial organization. “We ask not to speculate on this incident so as not to make its resolution more difficult”he added.
Aminata Alassane, spokesperson for the ICRC in Mali, confirmed the kidnapping to Agence France-Presse. “The ICRC deplores [l’incident] and demands the release of its collaborators.she said.
Security crisis
Mali is in the grip of a security crisis, triggered by a regional uprising in the north that turned into a jihadist insurgency. The violence that has shaken this Sahelian country since 2012 is the work of jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, but also of self-proclaimed militias and bandits.
The unrest has spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of civilians, police and military have been killed in the region, and more than two million people have fled their homes.
Abductions of foreigners and Malians are frequent. The motives for these kidnappings range from ransom demands to acts of retaliation.
In May 2021, gunmen abducted three Italians and a Togolese national in the southeast of the country. In February, a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor who had been kidnapped in late January in Mali was released.