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19:28 GMT
PARIS, April 17 (KUNA) -- France and Mali in a joint announcement Thursday said that French military forces had secured the release earlier in the day of five humanitarian workers being held in the Timbuktu region of northern Mali.
The hostages were kidnapped by a terrorist group on February 8 last and they were freed in a Special Forces operation carried out by France early Thursday morning, a statement from President Francois Hollande's office said.
Four of the freed hostages were working for the International Red Cross when they were kidnapped, the statement said.
All five were said to be in good health and no report was made of casualties among the hostage-takers or the French forces.
"France and Mali remain resolutely committed, alongside other nations, to the fight against terrorism, organised crime and narcotics-trafficking in the Sahel," the French statement noted. (end)
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