Three Italian citizens held by al-Qaeda affiliated jihadists in Mali for over 21 months were set to arrive at Ciampino airport near Rome on Tuesday after their release, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani will meet the freed hostages - Rocco Antonio Langone, his wife Maria Donata Caivano and their son Giovanni Langone - at Ciampino, according to the statement.
The Langone family is in good health, according to premier Giorgia Meloni's office.
"I'd like to express my most hearfelt felicitations for the release of our three compatriots kidapped in 2022," Meloni stated.
"I thank AISE (Italy's external intelligence and security agency), which together with the foreign ministry achieved this result - it was not easy," Meloni underlined.
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 been living in Mali for some years, was seized by the Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) group. JNIM is active in West Africa and the Maghreb.
AISE worked "intensely" with the foreign ministry, local tribal leaders and intelligence services to secure the Lagone family's release, Meloni's office said in a statement.
