Italian Family Freed After Two Years of Captivity in Mali

The release of an elderly Italian couple and their son, kidnapped by jihadists in 2022, was secured by Italy's intelligence agency.

An elderly Italian couple and their son, kidnapped in Mali in May 2022 by jihadists, have been released and are in good health.
The family, part of a Jehovah's Witnesses community, was planning to set up a church when abducted.
Italy's intelligence agency and the foreign ministry secured their release through contacts with community leaders and Mali's intelligence agencies.
The family's domestic worker, a Togolese national also abducted, has an unclear fate.
Mali's insurgency, ongoing for over a decade, has seen jihadists often kidnap foreigners for ransom or to demand the release of fellow fighters.