Three Italian nationals from the same family who were kidnapped in Mali in May 2022 were released during the night from Monday to Tuesday, the Italian government announced.
“This night, three Italian nationals were released: Rocco Langone, his wife Maria Donata Caivano and his son Giovanni Langone, kidnapped on May 19, 2022”
southeast of the capital Bamako, the government said in a press release.
“Despite their long detention”
, all three are in
“good health”
and will be repatriated to Rome on Tuesday, he said.
The family, belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses religious movement and who had lived in the country for several years, had been kidnapped by armed men from the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a jihadist alliance affiliated with al- Qaida.
Their release was made possible thanks to the work of the Italian secret services and
“contacts with tribal figures and local intelligence
,” the government explained.
Since 2012, Mali has been plagued by a spread of jihadism and violence of all kinds - notably kidnappings of foreigners or Malians - whose motivations are ideological or villainous.