The French Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two French journalists kidnapped by gunmen in Mali earlier on Saturday have been killed.

The bodies of the men, abducted in the northern Malian town of Kidal, were found just outside the town – a local official, sources from the Tuareg separatist group MNLA and Malian security services told Reuters.

“A few minutes after a pursuit began for the abductors of the two French, we were informed that their bodies were found riddled with bullets outside the town,” said Paul-Marie Sidibe, prefect of the town of Tinzawaten, who is based in Kidal.

The journalists, employees of French radio station Radio France International (RFI), had been interviewing a member of the MNLA shortly before they were taken.

RFI said it had not heard from the journalists since they were kidnapped.