Two French citizens kidnapped by armed men in Mali

Two French citizens were kidnapped by armed men on Wednesday night in Hombori, in Mali, according to police sources and local authorities.

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They say seven armed men kidnapped the two men from their hotel just after 0100 local time.

"I heard noise in the corridor," the owner of the hotel told RFI, "when I opened the door, I saw armed men. They told me that they weren't here for me, but for the white people in the hotel. They told me not to scream and nothing would happen to me. So I showed them the rooms and then they tied me up.I only saw four men, but the guards say there were at least 10 of them.They were armed with Kalashnikovs and knives as well.The two French men had arrived earlier this week. They were not tourists, they came to visit a cement factory."

The men were geologists and had apparently just returned from briefing their Malian colleagues on their day’s work.

Police and local authorities agree that the men have been taken to northern Mali.

The group called Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has several bases in northern Mali, and it has kidnapped several westerners in the past, either in Mali or neighbouring Niger, Mauritania and Algeria.

Six French citizens are already in captivity in captivity in these countries.