Swiss and Austrian women freed after over a year in Niger captivity

Two European women, one Swiss and one Austrian, have been freed after being held captive in Niger for more than a year, according to BBC World and DW English reports.

The women, Swiss national Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Austrian Claudia Abbt, 69, were kidnapped separately in the northern Nigerien city of Agadez in January and April 2025, the reports said.

The captors and their demands have not been disclosed, though some reports previously linked the kidnappings to Islamic State militants. The circumstances of their release were not revealed.

The women were handed over to authorities in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where they appeared physically weakened in a video shown by Libya's al-Masar TV. Both thanked Khalifa Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of Libya's armed forces, and his son for their release.

A plane was expected to depart Benghazi on Thursday, first stopping in Vienna to transfer Gretzmacher to Austrian authorities before continuing to Switzerland with Abbt, according to local news outlets.

Libya has faced ongoing instability since the 2011 uprising, and it shares a long desert border with Niger, where the kidnappings occurred.