German kidnapped in Niger released — Algeria
Algeria says a German citizen has been released after a "criminal armed group" kidnapped him in Niger two weeks ago.
The German government confirmed on Saturday that a citizen of their country had been rescued after being held captive by armed criminals in Niger for approximately two weeks. According to a statement from the Algerian Defense Ministry, the individual was taken into custody by the Algerian military's security forces on Friday. The Algerian military transported the German national on a chartered flight from Guezzam, a location in the southern region of Niger, to the Boufarik military base near Algiers, the capital city.
Algerian officials reported that the individual was in good health and would be handed over to German authorities at a later point in time. However, no further details regarding the circumstances of the German citizen's release were disclosed. The German Foreign Ministry's spokesperson acknowledged the situation to the news agency Deutsche Welle (DW) but emphasized that the German government refrains from commenting on incidents involving abducted German nationals overseas.
Niger, which has been under military rule since a July 2023 coup, has recently experienced increased violence from militant groups linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organizations.
Written by urgent.news from DW News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
