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Mali authorities arrest four people in connection with kidnapping of nun

A woman stands in front of posters of Pope Francis at the Martyrs of Uganda church in Bamako, Mali, November 8, 2015. | Reuters/Joe Penney

Mali authorities have arrested four people in relation to the kidnapping of a Columbian nun who remains missing to this day.

Sister Cecilia Argoti Narvaez, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was abducted by armed men in the southern Mali city of Karangasso on Feb. 7. According to The Catholic Register, she was forced to hand over the keys to the community's ambulance, which was later found abandoned. Three other sisters at the house were able to escape.

Last week, a judge in the country charged four individuals, but it it is unclear whether they are connected to Islamic militant groups such as Al Qaeda.

"I confirm the indictment of four people on the grounds of kidnapping the Colombian Gloria Cecilia," said anti-terrorism prosecutor Boubacar Sidiki Samake.

Investigators initially suspected Islamist militants of being involved in the abduction, but an unnamed security source stated that the accused are connected to the parish from which Narvaez was abducted.

Radio France Internationale has reported that at least three of the accused were employed at the parish church in Karangasso. Two of them were drivers, while the other was a cook who prepared food for the community.

Narvaez has served in Mali for 12 years, and her community administers a health center as well as a home for some 30 orphans aged between one and two years. The sisters also teach literacy to around 700 Muslim women, and they also work on a barn project for times of food shortages.

The Catholic bishops of Mali have recently urged the general public to help secure the nun's release.

"We are exploring all possible paths to obtain Sister Cecilia's release and are calling upon the faithful to keep praying for her," said Father Edmond Dembele, secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Mali.

"Some people believe that bandits in the area kidnapped the sister in the hope of getting a ransom, and now do not know how to handle the situation. Others believe jihadists kidnapped her," he added.

Jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda are believed to be operating in the north of Mali, but Karangasso is far removed from their typical area of operations.

Islamist groups, which seized north Mali in 2012, have been driven back by French forces the following year, but they have regrouped, and they are increasingly conducting raids in southern and central parts of the country, which were previously deemed safe.