The Moroccan Embassy in Burkina Faso confirmed late on Monday that the four truck drivers had been freed and were safe in Niamey, Niger.

Four Moroccan truck drivers, who were abducted in West Africa over the weekend, have been released in Niger, according to officials. Their abduction highlights the ongoing insecurity in the Sahel, a vast, arid region south of the Sahara, where armed groups have increasingly carried out attacks in recent years.

The four drivers were transporting electrical equipment from Casablanca to Niamey, the capital of Niger, and had been on the road for over 20 days, covering the 3,000-mile (4,950-kilometer) journey. They were reported missing on Saturday, according to the secretary-general of Morocco’s Transport Union and a Moroccan official who requested anonymity due to their lack of authorization to comment on the matter.

On Monday evening, the Moroccan Embassy in Burkina Faso informed the Transport Union that the drivers had been freed and were confirmed to be safe in Niamey. Echarki El Hachmi, the union's secretary-general, confirmed that the drivers would soon be brought back, although he noted that their trucks and cargo remained missing.

The drivers had chosen not to travel with a military escort on the stretch of road between northeastern Burkina Faso and western Niger. The Moroccan official reported that they went missing while crossing the Burkinabe-Nigerien border, specifically between the towns of Dori and Tera.

Truck drivers are generally advised not to travel along this route without a security escort. El Hachmi mentioned that the drivers had been taken by an unidentified armed group to a remote forest. The Moroccan official stated that there was no direct evidence linking the kidnapping to any specific group, and it was unclear if a ransom had been paid for their release.