Isophoric News · Thursday, October 22, 2026
Austrian and Swiss women held in Niger are freed in Libya
An Austrian woman, 76, and a Swiss woman, 69, who were kidnapped separately in Agadez, Niger, in January and April of last year, have been freed and handed to authorities in the Libyan city of Benghazi, the BBC reported. Austria and Switzerland both confirmed the releases, and the Swiss government said its citizen had received medical care and was on her way back to Switzerland. No details have been given about who held the women or what they demanded, and the circumstances of their release were not disclosed, the BBC said. Libya's al-Masar TV released a video in which the women thank Khalifa Haftar, the eastern Libyan commander, and his son for their release; DW said it had not independently verified the video.