An official of the United Nations mission in Mali says two people who were kidnapped in Burkina Faso in December 2018 have been released.
Mission officials say the Canadian woman and the Italian man were found near Kidal, in northern Mali, and were turned over to U.N. peacekeepers in good health.
The two are identified as Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto.
It remains unclear who was responsible for their abduction, but jihadists and ethnic militias have been active in Africa’s Sahel region since 2015, and they have killed hundreds of civilians over the past year.
The U.S., France and other western countries have tried to combat the terrorists with troops and money, but the violence has continued to escalate.
Several other foreigners have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso, including an Australian and a Romanian who are still missing.
