Four gunmen driving a Toyota kidnapped two French journalists in Kidal who had just interviewed Ambeiry Ag Rhissa, a Kidal cultural official in the separatist Tuareg MNLA. The French government later said the two journalists have been killed. Four Frenchmen held hostage for three years by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were released in Mali earlier this week; France denied rumors that a large ransom had been paid.