ICRC says its 2 abducted staff members in Mali released

GENEVA

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday that its two staff members, abducted on March 4 in northern Mali, have been unconditionally released.

"Both are safe and well," the ICRC said in a news release.

Noting that they will be reunited with their families "as soon as possible," Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Mali, said: "We are incredibly relieved that our colleagues are back with us."

"We are grateful to everyone who has worked so hard from the outset to facilitate their unconditional and swift release," Grand added.

To safeguard their privacy, the ICRC is not releasing the names or nationalities of the two staff members who were freed on Sunday.