Three Indian Nationals Kidnapped by Terrorists in Mali

Bamako (Mali) – Three Indian nationals have been kidnapped by an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in the West African nation of Mali. Among those kidnapped is 28-year-old P Venkataraman, a resident of Odisha’s Ganjam district.

The kidnapping occurred on July 1, during an assault by armed terrorists on the premises of the Diamond Cement Factory in Kayes in western Mali. The factory, which employs foreign workers, including Indians, became the target of a planned attack attributed to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for multiple assaults across Mali in recent days.