Austrian and Swiss women freed after 18 months in Niger reach Benghazi, sources say

Oct 21 (Reuters) – An Austrian woman and a Swiss woman arrived in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi after being freed from more than 18 months of detention in Niger, two officials speaking on the condition of anonymity said on Wednesday.

The Austrian, identified by Austrian authorities as Eva G, who is in her 70s, was kidnapped in the desert town of Agadez in central Niger in January 2025. Little information has been released about which group was holding her or what demands they may have made. She had been living in Niger for years.

The Swiss woman was taken hostage in April 2025. The Swiss Foreign Ministry did not previously name the hostage.

The two officials said the women would be handed over to authorities in their respective countries after the necessary procedures were completed. They added that the operation was overseen by Saddam Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of Libya’s armed forces.

Niger, like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, is battling a jihadist insurgency linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that spun out of a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in 2012. The fighting has killed thousands and displaced millions across West Africa’s central Sahel region over the past decade.

Kidnappings appeared to intensify in Niger last year.

(Ayman Al-Werfali in Benghazi; Writing by Enas Alashray and Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Rod Nickel)