“We just learned that some expats have narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping by armed Islamic militants in one of Mali's neighbours. Therefore we are taking security measures and are pulling back to the south of Mali,” a source close to the ACF bureau in Gao, northern Mali, told AFP.
“Several European employees who are in Gao have been called back to Bamako as a security precaution,” Amadou Senou, a regional official confirmed.
The Gao region some thousand kilometres (600 miles) to the north east of Bamako in the Sahel region which has been the scene of trafficking and smuggling of all kinds by organised crime groups.
Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants — who claim to belong to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) — roam freely between Mali and its neighbouring countries.
Several foreign nationals have also been kidnapped or detained in Mali and Niger in the last year in operations claimed by AQMI.
Loading...
Be the first to comment