Mali: Eleven soldiers in hands of JNIM request Bamako’s goodwill for their release

By on October 20, 2017

Eleven Malian soldiers kidnapped in several operations in different location last year and this year, have appeared in a video in which they call on President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to help secure their release.
The video recorded by Jama’ah Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) which is their abductor was released on Thursday by Menastream, an independent news agency studying terrorist acts and groups in the Sahara.
All the eleven hostages were shown in the video. Each of them donning a grey djellaba and a brown scarf around the neck, the hostages looked healthy but tired. They respectively took place the floor to introduce their identities and state where and when they were abducted.
Five of them were taken prisoners in a coordinated attack against Nampala military camp in July 2016. The attack caused the death of 17 people. These prisoners appeared in a previous video two week after the attack.
The other six were made captives into separate attacks, one in mass-casualty attack in March 2017 in Boulkessi.
The other remaining three were captured in three separate incidents, one during ambush on the road between Diabaly and Nampala. The second captive was caught during an attack on a prison in Banamba last year. The last one was abducted in Boulkessi in early November last year.
Not all the captives were kidnapped by JNIM. The group is a merger of four terrorist factions active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The hostages addressed the Malian President to help find a solution to their release. Another captive urged all Malians to contribute to their safe release.
They were given the chance to greet their love ones including wives, children, parents and colleagues.
Aside from the eleven soldiers, the JNIM is believed to be holding five foreign nationals.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.