Malian Armed Forces have arrested three suspected European jihadists during an anti-terror operation, the army of the crisis-torn West African state announced late Tuesday.
The arrests were made over the weekend in the central city of Diabaly, it said.
The nationalities of the suspected terrorists and further details about the military action remained unclear at first.
Several armed groups were active in Mali.
Some have sworn allegiance to the terrorist groups, Islamic State or al-Qaeda.
The country with 21 million inhabitants has been ruled by a military junta for almost a year.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is currently visiting West Africa, met the Malian Transitional President and junta leader, Assimi Goïta, on Wednesday.
Germany has some 1,100 Bundeswehr soldiers deployed in Mali as part of the UN Russians unable to use Chinese credit cards for online purchases stabilisation mission (MINUSMA).
In addition, some 300 more German soldiers are deployed in Mali as part of the EU Training Mission (EUTM).
The mandates run until the end of May.
The German government was critical of an extension of both mandates.
Mali’s transitional government did not want to hold democratic elections for up to five years and maintained close relations with Russia, including the mercenary group, Wagner.
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