5 Indian nationals abducted in insurgency-hit Mali; embassy says working to ensure safe release

New Delhi: Five citizens of India have been abducted in Mali even as a siege by the terrorists of Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, on the capital of the West African country added pressure to its military government to negotiate with the outfit sanctioned by the United Nations.

New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in Bamako confirmed the abduction of five Indians, who were employed by a company to work on an electrification project at Koury in southern Mali. They all hailed from Tamil Nadu.

They were taken by a group of armed men on November 6.

“The Embassy (of India) is aware of the unfortunate incident of kidnapping of five of our nationals in Mali on 6 Nov 2025,” New Delhi’s diplomatic mission in Bamaco posted on X, adding that it was working closely with the authorities of the West African country and the company, which had recruited the abducted people, to secure the safe release of the hostages “as quickly as possible”.

Though it is not clear if any group claimed responsibility for the abduction of the five Indians, the kidnapping took place amid heightened tension in Mali over a siege by the JNIM – the Al Qaeda’s branch in Sahel in Africa – on Bamako, the capital of the country, since September. The armed cadres of the organisation barred the entry of the fuel tankers to Bamako, triggering a crisis in the capital city in a bid to topple the military government led by Col Assimi Goita.

Taking into account the deteriorating security situation, the United States and the United Kingdom recently advised their citizens to leave Mali and evacuated non-essential diplomatic staff. France also asked its citizens to leave Mali at the earliest.

Earlier, three citizens of India had been kidnapped from a cement manufacturing plant in Mali on July 1 – the day the JNIM had carried out several coordinated strikes targeting military and government facilities in the western and the central regions of the country. The Ministry of External Affairs had then advised all Indians residing in Mali “to exercise utmost caution, remain vigilant and stay in close contact with the Embassy of India in Bamako for regular updates and necessary assistance”.