Bamako: Four Moroccan truck drivers, kidnapped in January 2025 in northeastern Burkina Faso near the border with Niger, were released on the evening of Sunday, August 3, 2025, the government of the Republic of Mali has announced in a statement.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Republic of Mali's government informed both the national and international community that the drivers, who were abducted on January 18, 2025, were released unharmed. The statement, which was read on national television, confirmed that the Moroccan drivers had been held by the Islamic State terrorist group in the Sahel province, known as the Sahelian branch of Daesh.
The Malian government highlighted that the successful rescue was achieved through the combined efforts of Mali's National Agency for State Security and Morocco's General Directorate of Studies and Documentation (DGED). These agencies worked collaboratively with determination and professionalism from the initial stages of the kidnapping to ensure the safe release of the drivers.
