It is an NGO often targeted when it is closer to the populations most in need. Two employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were kidnapped on Saturday in Mali, a indicated the Malian branch of the NGO on Twitter.
“We confirm the kidnapping of two of our colleagues this morning between Gao and Kidal. We ask not to speculate on this incident so as not to hinder its resolution”, specifies the ICRC. “Present in Mali for 32 years, the ICRC is a neutral, independent and impartial organization,” she recalls.
Since 2012, Mali has been in the grip of a serious security crisis and violence, in particular the kidnapping of foreigners and Malians, is frequent. The motives for these kidnappings range from ransom demands to acts of retaliation. The nationality of the two kidnapped aid workers is not known.
A region where journalist Olivier Dubois had been kidnapped
In February, a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor who had been abducted in the country was released. The Malian Red Cross quickly supported its international colleagues, tweeting “union of hearts in active solidarity”.
Olivier Dubois is the last French hostage since the release in October 2020 of Sophie Pétronin, also kidnapped in Mali. The journalist, who worked for Liberation, in particular, was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Gao, in northern Mali, by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel, linked to Al-Qaeda.
In the meantime, France has put an end to its anti-jihadist operation Barkhane in the Sahel region, withdrawn its troops from Mali with which relations have greatly deteriorated, and is in the process of considering the resizing and the reduction of its military footprint in the region, while continuing to collaborate with several countries in the region in their fight once morest jihadist groups.
