Moroccan truck drivers kidnapped in Burkina Faso have been released

CASABLANCA, Morocco — Four Moroccan truck drivers who were kidnapped in West Africa over the weekend were released in Niger.

The drivers were the latest victims of insecurity in the Sahel, an arid swath of land south of the Sahara where militant groups such as the Islamic State Sahel Province have exploited local grievances to expand their ranks and presence.

The four were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital of Niger, and had been on the road for more than 20 days along the 3,000-mile (5,000-kilometer) route when they were reported missing on Saturday, the secretary-general of Morocco's Transport Union said.

The Moroccan Embassy in Burkina Faso informed the union late Monday that the four drivers had been freed and were safe in Niamey.

''They will be brought back soon,'' said Echarki El Hachmi, the union's secretary-general. Their trucks and cargos remain missing, he said.

The drivers elected not to travel with a military escort on the route between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. They went missing while traveling across the Burkinabe-Nigerien border, from the town of Dori to the town of Tera.

Truckers are discouraged from traveling the route without security escorts. El Hachmi said the drivers were taken by an unidentified armed group to a remote forest.

Morocco has tried to deepen its political and economic ties in the Sahel and export more goods to countries such as Niger.

Regional affiliates of the Islamic State group and al-Qaida have recently expanded their activities in the Sahel, which has been upended by military coups and junta-led governments in recent years. In an attempt to combat insurgencies, the governments have replaced security partnerships with Western nations with mercenary groups including Russia's Africa Corps, the successor of the paramilitary group Wagner.

According to the United Nations, terrorism and organized crime carried out by militant groups are a ''pervasive threat'' in the Sahel.

Militants have killed thousands of people in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and displaced millions.