Four Moroccan truck drivers freed after terrorist abduction

The men were seized while transporting goods from Dori, Burkina Faso, to Tera, Niger, without armed escort—a route notorious for jihadist attacks. Footage showed the drivers alongside Mali's junta leader, Assimi Goita. They were released on Sunday, though the terms of their freedom have not been disclosed.

For more than a decade, the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have waged a campaign of violence across West Africa's Sahel region, which spans Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, carrying out deadly attacks and abducting civilians.

In a coordinated shift, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have embraced a more hardline security strategy, severing ties with France and other Western allies in favor of military support from Russia and private contractors. Central to this pivot is a deepening alliance with the Russian-linked Wagner Group, which has moved to fill the vacuum left by departing Western forces.

The release of the Moroccan nationals is praised for its potential to foster and strengthen cross-border cooperation against terrorism. However, Moroccan and Malian authorities have yet to clarify whether the release resulted from military pressure or successful negotiations. What is certain is that the success of the operation was due to the coordination between Mali's National State Security Agency and Morocco's General Directorate of Studies and Documentation (DGED), both of which swiftly launched investigations.