Mali militants “kill” French hostage

A Mali-based Islamist militant group linked to al-Qaeda claims to have killed a French hostage who had been in captivity since 2012.

The group told French AFP news agency that Gilberto Rodriguez Leal had been killed because France was their enemy. So far there is no confirmation of his death.

Last week, French troops in Mali freed five aid workers kidnapped in the north of the country in February.

Several foreigners have been kidnapped in Mali since a Tuareg rebellion two years ago in the north of the country plunged the country into chaos.

Source: BBC