BAMAKO: Islamic State-affiliated militants have released four Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in January, Mali said late on Monday, according to state media, highlighting growing intelligence cooperation between the two countries.
The men and their three trucks disappeared in January while crossing without an escort from Dori in Burkina Faso to Tera in Niger, an area known for jihadist threats, a diplomatic source said at the time.
They were shown alongside Mali junta leader Assimi Goita in footage broadcast on Monday night by state media, which reported that they had been freed on Sunday.
Junta-led Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali are battling militant groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State that have been destabilising West Africa’s Sahel region for more than a decade.
All three countries have halted defense cooperation with France and other Western forces and turned toward Russia for military support. And last year they announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), raising the risk of diplomatic isolation.
Morocco has meanwhile drawn closer to the three landlocked countries.
In April, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali endorsed an initiative offering them access to global trade through Morocco’s Atlantic ports. Morocco also mediated to secure the release in December of four French nationals who had been held in Burkina Faso for a year.
The release on Sunday of the four truck drivers came as a result of cooperation between the security and intelligence services of Mali and Morocco, Malian state media reported.
Islamist militants free Moroccan truck drivers held since January, Mali says
https://arab.news/g7bfv
Islamist militants free Moroccan truck drivers held since January, Mali says
- The men and their three trucks disappeared in January while crossing without an escort from Dori in Burkina Faso to Tera in Niger
Three vessels hit by projectiles in Strait of Hormuz
DUBAI: Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security agencies and sources said on Wednesday.
One of the strikes led to a fire onboard a ship and forced most of its crew to evacuate it.
The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was targeted and damaged approximately 11 nautical miles north of Oman, two maritime security sources cited by Reuters have said.
The fire had been extinguished and that there was no environmental impact, a report by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said later, referring to the incident. Necessary crew remained on the vessel.
Earlier, a container ship and a bulk carrier were hit off the coast of the UAE by unknown projectiles, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery accounting for about 20% of global oil and gas supply, has dropped rapidly since the Iran conflict began on February 28.
The latest incidents increase the number of ships that have been attacked since the conflict began to at least 14.
(with Reuters)
