According to a reports by Al-Jazeera on 9 October 2021, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, a Colombian nun who was abducted in 2017 by the al-Qaeda-linked Macina Liberation Front, has been freed. Sources stated that the nun had not been ill-treated during her captivity, during which she had studied the Quran. World Watch Research analyst Yonas Dembele comments:‚  "For several years now, Islamic militants have taken advantage of the insecurity in the country and the weak governmental control and have used kidnapping for ransom as a means of generating income. Christian missionaries (especially foreigners) are considered prime targets and are under constant threat of abduction. The release of the Colombian nun is a positive development stemming from the combined efforts of several intelligence services. Despite this positive news, Mali is not a safe place for Christians, who continue to suffer from the chaos and instability in the country caused by violent Islamic groups. In the past, ‚ kidnapped Christian missionaries have sometimes been killed, as occurred when a Swiss missionary‚ was reported to have been executed by JNIM after almost five years in captivity (World Watch Monitor, 10 October 2020)."