BAMAKO: Five people kidnapped alongside Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse have been freed, his party said on Friday, as officials reported that negotiations were also underway to secure his release.
A former finance minister and presidential contender, Cisse and members of his team were kidnapped in jihadist-ridden central Mali last week. Despite a years-long jihadist conflict raging in the West Africa state, his kidnap marked a first for a politician of his rank in the war-torn country. Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives.