DAKAR,  Armed men kidnapped an Italian couple and their son in southern Mali overnight, according to their church, as violence escalates in a country racked by an Islamist insurgency.

The couple is in their 70s, according to a spokeswoman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses church in neighbouring Senegal, and their son is around 50. He said that they were in Mali for personal reasons and are not missionaries.

He stated that it was not immediately evident who took them. A Togolese national was taken with the Italians, according to media reports, but the spokesman claimed he couldn’t confirm that.

In a statement, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed the kidnapping.

“The Crisis Unit is making every effort – in coordination with the competent State bodies – to find a positive solution to the case,” it said.

Kidnappings have recently increased in Mali as Islamist militants affiliated to al Qaeda and the Islamic State expand their influence further south from their northern and central strongholds.

In addition, jihadists utilise Mali as a base for attacks across West Africa’s Sahel area and into its coastal neighbours.

Foreigner abductions, on the other hand, have decreased in the Sahel as decreasing security has discouraged most people from venturing to high-risk areas. However, in April 2021, al Qaeda-linked terrorists kidnapped French journalist Olivier Dubois in the northern city of Gao. He is still thought to be a hostage.

In early April, armed men kidnapped an 83-year-old American nun in northern Burkina Faso.

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