AL-QAEDA’s West African branch has announced the death of a Malian hostage in its custody, naming him as Idriss Sanogo, and saying he died of an unspecified illness.
The Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group extended its condolences to the man’s family. JNIM also laid the blame on the Malian government, saying the state had failed to negotiate Mr Sanogo’s release.
The group relayed the news in a brief statement on Thursday via social media.
It gave little information about Mr Sanogo, apart from saying he was born in 1952 and had been captured by JNIM militants in the Malian city of Timbuktu three years ago.
In early May 2020, a few mainstream news outlets reported the kidnapping of a government official – “the prefect of the Gourma-Rharous circle” in the Timbuktu region – naming him as “Drissa Sanogo” and “Idrissa Sonogo”.
Until Thursday, JNIM had not publicly mentioned it was holding Mr Sanogo.
In its latest statement, the al-Qaeda group held the government “fully responsible” for the death of Mr Sanogo, saying Bamako had “neglected his case… despite knowing of his health conditions”.
The militant group said its demands were “simple” and “known to all”: “you free our brother, we free your brother” – suggesting that the jihadist group had probably demanded the release of one or a number of its militants in return for Mr Sanogo.
The Malian government has not yet responded to JNIM’s statement.
The Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said in a recent report that the kidnapping of local people in Mali and Burkina Faso has increased, and accused JNIM of being a key culprit.
