Tuareg Rebels Free Hostages Seized in Northern Mali

Around 30 hostages kidnapped by Tuareg rebels in a deadly siege at local government offices in northern Mali were released on Monday, the United Nations said.

"We have just taken back around 30 hostages. They are in not bad condition. Two are very tired," an official from MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, told Agence France Presse.

There were no immediate details on any negotiations behind the release, or confirmation that every hostage kidnapped in the northern rebel stronghold of Kidal on Saturday had been freed.

"They are between 28 and 30 hostages. They are in the hands of the MINUSMA," a humanitarian source who participated in the handover told AFP.