Two French journalists were killed on Saturday afternoon in the northern Malian town of Kidal.
Reporter Ghislaine Dupont and sound engineer Claude Verlon of FRANCE 24’s sister station Radio France Internationale (RFI) were abducted by unknown gunmen after they interviewed a leader of the Tuareg separatist movement MNLA.
They were later found dead outside the town.
Local governor Adama Kamissoko told the Reuters news agency the journalists were abducted “by four men driving a Toyota in Kidal town”.
RFI confirmed that the two journalists were kidnapped around 1pm GMT. The French foreign ministry announced their deaths later in the evening.
RFI reported that Tuareg leader Ambery Ag Rissa heard a noise outside his Kidal home after being interviewed by Dupont and Verlon on Saturday afternoon. He then saw armed men take the two journalists into a jeep and was forced to go back into his house after threats from the kidnappers.
The murders took place on the second day of a national forum on the future of Mali’s troubled northern region in the capital Bamako.
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