Two Italian hostages, Father Pier Luigi Maccalli and Nicola Chiacchio, landed at Rome's Ciampino airport on Friday after they were released in Mali on Thursday.
They were welcomed back by Premier Giuseppe Conte and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio The pair had been moved to Mali after being taken hostage by Islamist extremists in Niger.
Maccalli, a priest with the Crema dioceses, was kidnapped in September 2018 while on a mission some 150km from Niamey.
Chiacchio went missing several years ago while travelling in the area.
Mali authorities announced the release of the hostages after freeing around 100 jihadis last weekend.
The pair are set to be questioned by prosecutors in Rome later on Friday.
Di Maio said his ministry was working hard to bring home others in similar situations, including a group of Italian fishermen being held in Libya.
"With Maccalli and Chiacchio, in just over a year we have freed or brought home seven Italian hostages who were in the hands of terrorists or criminal organizations," the minister said via Facebook. "We continue to work day and night and at the moment we are focusing our efforts on our compatriots in Libya".
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