Reuters reported Wednesday that two officials said the Austrian and Swiss women reached Benghazi after release from Niger, with transfer to their national authorities awaiting completion of required procedures.
Reuters linked the insurgency affecting Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to al Qaeda and Islamic State and traced its roots to a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in 2012. Reuters said fighting across West Africa’s central Sahel caused thousands of deaths and displaced millions over the past decade. The outlet said kidnappings appeared to intensify in Niger last year.
Austrian authorities identified the woman as Eva G and said she is in her 70s. She had lived in Niger for years before being abducted in Agadez in January 2025. The other woman, a Swiss national, was abducted in April 2025; the Swiss Foreign Ministry had not previously named her.
The officials said the women would be handed to their countries’ authorities once required formalities are complete. They named Saddam Haftar, Libya’s deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as the person who supervised the operation.
