BAMAKO, Mali — Islamic extremists in northern Mali freed three staffers with the International Committee of the Red Cross they had kidnapped last week, a spokesman for the organization said Friday.

The staffers were freed early Friday, said Valery Mbaoh Nana, international Red Cross spokesman in Bamako, Mali’s capital, with the aid of local notables.

“Our colleagues were freed without condition,” he said.

The staffers were originally kidnapped by the jihadi Ansar Dine group on Saturday, said a member of a Tuareg separatist group in contact with the kidnappers.

The Red Cross team had earlier been stopped by French soldiers near the village Abeibara where they were distributing water and their guide and his assistant were detained, he explained. The staffers were allowed to continue.

The jihadis then kidnapped the Red Cross staffers near Kidal, insisting the guide and his apprentice be released, said the separatist who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.