Foreign minister Antonio Tajani has welcomed the release of an Italian couple and their son held hostage by Al-Qaeda affiliated jihadists in Mali since 2022 and expressed "relief" at the success of the operation.
"An Italian family was freed in an operation carried out very effectively by Italian officials who operated in such a difficult and dangerous context as Mali," Tajani stated.
Tajani said he wanted to voice "relief at the successful outcome of this long kidnapping and to emphasize once again the commitment with which foreign ministry and intelligence officials protect Italian citizens around the world."
Tajani was later on Tuesday due to meet the three freed hostages - Rocco Antonio Langone, his wife Maria Donata Caivano and their son Giovanni Langone - on their arrival at Ciampino airport near Rome.
The Langone family was abducted from their home on the outskirts of the city of Koutiala - a hotbed of jihadism - south of Mali's capital, Bamako, on 19 May 2022.
The family, who had lived in Mali for some years, was was seized by the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group. JNIM is active in West Africa and the Maghreb.
