A coalition of separatists in Mali, the Azawad Liberation Front, on Tuesday said it had freed a Spanish national kidnapped by a group of bandits in Algeria. The kidnappers had hoped to sell him to the Islamic State (IS) group in Mali but were stopped before they could hand him over.

A Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali has released a Spanish man kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, two of the group's spokesmen said late on Monday.

Local media claimed that a Spanish tourist had been captured by ISIS terrorists in Alegria and taken across the border into the neighbouring country of Mali.

A Spanish man who was kidnapped last week near the Algeria-Mali border has landed near Algiers en route home, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro, kidnapped in North Africa, has been freed by the Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali. He was expected to arrive at Algeria's Boufarik air base. The Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed his release but did not comment on the circumstances of his kidnapping.

ALGIERS/BAMAKO - A plane carrying Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro, who was kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, was expected to land in Algeria's Boufarik air base, Algerian state media reported on Tuesday.

Algerian authorities on Wednesday handed over freed Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro to Spanish officials in a ceremony at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Algiers.

Following the withdrawal of France's Operation Barkhane, Algeria is being challenged on its southern borders by Sahelian sovereigns seeking to free themselves from its influence.

Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro, kidnapped in North Africa, is expected to land in Algeria after being released by a Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali.

A rebel alliance in Mali has freed a Spanish man kidnapped in southern Algeria, with plans to hand him over to authorities soon.

BAMAKO, Mali -- A rebel alliance in Mali said Tuesday it has freed a Spanish man who was kidnapped in southern Algeria last week. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a coalition of separatist armed groups in Mali's predominately Tuareg north, said on the social media platform X that it freed Spanish citizen Gilbert Navarro.