Mali separatists release six wounded soldiers

Tuareg separatists in Mali said they released six wounded Malian soldiers on Sunday, three days after Mali's army said 82 other soldiers held hostage had been freed.

The Azawad Liberation Front, known as the FLA, said it had handed over six wounded Malian soldiers who had been taken prisoner during clashes with the armed forces to a mission from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The ICRC said it had facilitated the transfer of six injured people from a health centre in the northern town of Kidal to a hospital in Gao. It did not specify who the people were. A Malian administrative official in Gao confirmed that the FLA had released the six Malian soldiers and said some were wounded.

The FLA said the ICRC arranged air transport between Kidal and Gao. The ICRC said the operation was carried out with security guarantees from all parties to the conflict and was part of its role as a neutral intermediary.

On Thursday, Mali's army said 82 soldiers had been released after being held hostage following capture by the FLA and allied fighters from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, known as JNIM.

The army said those soldiers had been held since attacks in late April, when JNIM and the FLA began a series of assaults. The army said the assaults included the capture of the northern city of Kidal and the killing of Mali's defence minister. FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane confirmed at the time that around 80 Malian soldiers had been released for strictly humanitarian purposes, but said their capture had taken place between 2023 and 2026.

Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012, fuelled by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as local criminal gangs and separatists. The country has been ruled by the military since coups in 2020 and 2021.