Mali soldiers freed in Tuareg prisoner swap, sources say

Around 60 Malian soldiers were freed by Tuareg separatists in a prisoner swap involving a rebel officer detained in Niger, security sources told AFP on August 28.

The Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front released the soldiers in exchange for its officer Inkinane Ag Attaher, who was arrested in Niger in 2025, the sources said.

One Malian security source said the soldiers were transported to Niger on August 27 to be exchanged for Ag Attaher and people allegedly linked to JNIM, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda. A second security source said Niger’s government directly oversaw the agreement.

FLA spokesman Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadane welcomed Ag Attaher’s release in a Facebook post. Niger officials had issued no official statement on the exchange.

The reported swap follows a recent series of prisoner releases in northern Mali. JNIM jihadists and FLA rebels have launched attacks in recent months against strategic positions held by Mali’s ruling junta.