Pierluigi Maccalli, a priest originally from Crema (province of Cremona), and Nicola Chiacchio, an Italian tourist whose kidnapping is unknown, were released in Mali after being kidnapped by extremist groups at different times and places. The two Italians were released together with the French aid worker Sophie Pétronin and a former Malian minister, Soumaila Cisse. The news, initially given by the Malian government, was confirmed with a note from the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Twitter that the release of the two hostages was also made possible by Aise, Italy’s secret foreign service.
Good news: Father Pier Luigi Maccalli and Nicola Chiacchio are finally free and well. They had been kidnapped by a jihadist group. Thanks to our intelligence, especially Aise, and to all those who worked to bring them home. ????????
– Luigi Di Maio (@luigidimaio) October 8, 2020
Father Maccalli he had been kidnapped on the night between 17 and 18 September 2018 in Bomoanga, Niger, where he was as a missionary of the Society of African Missions. Almost nothing is known about Chiacchio and his kidnapping.
The two had appeared together in a video published in April by Future. Their release, he wrote Republic, came after Mali’s interim government released a hundred jihadists over the past weekend. It is unclear whether the two events are related.
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