Mali’s state television reported that authorities have released three women from 49 Ivorian soldiers who were detained in the country about seven weeks ago, sparking diplomatic squabbles between the two neighbors in West Africa.

Malian authorities arrested soldiers at the international airport in the capital Bamako on July 10. The ruling military junta in Mali said the soldiers had entered the country without permission and were considered mercenaries.

The Ivory Coast authorities, which have repeatedly requested their release, announced that the soldiers had arrived in Mali in accordance with a security and logistics contract signed with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Mali and Côte d’Ivoire state television reported that Mali had released three women from the group.

Mali is struggling to curb the uprising, which intensified after the uprising and coup d’état in 2012 and has since spread to neighboring countries, killing thousands and forcing millions to flee West Africa’s Sahel region and the region’s coastal countries.

And the military council that has ruled Mali since August 2020 is at odds with its African neighbors and others for failing to hold promised elections and delaying a return to constitutional rule.