Armed men have kidnapped a Colombian nun from the town where she worked in southern Mali, officials said on February 8.

The nun was taken late the previous evening from Karangasso, where she has been working in a health center, about 300 km east of the capital Bamako, security ministry spokesman, Baba Cisse, said.

They also stole an ambulance and then abandoned it for a motorcycle, Cisse said.

Army spokesman Colonel Diarran Kone said the men had not yet been identified and that the army was searching for them.

Islamist militants often stage attacks in Mali’s desert north and sometimes kidnap foreigners there. They are also increasingly conducting raids in southern and central Mali, areas previously deemed safe.

 

(source: Reuters)