Austrian and Swiss women kidnapped in Niger are freed — report

An Austrian woman and a Swiss woman kidnapped in Niger have been freed after 18 months in captivity, local reports say.

Niger released two women, one Swiss and the other Austrian, after over a year of holding them captive, according to multiple reports.

What do we know so far? 

The two women were flown out to Libya's eastern city of Benghazi, Libyan media outlets reported on Thursday.

The Austrian national, identified by Austrian authorities as Eva G., and the Swiss national, whom the Swiss foreign ministry has not previously named, were both abducted in Niger in 2025.

Eva G. is in her 70s, and the Swiss woman, identified by media outlets as Claudia Abbt, is 69 years old, according to reports. Both women had been involved in education and development initiatives in Niger.

Eva G. was kidnapped in the desert ⁠town of Agadez in central Niger, in January 2025. Abbt was abducted in April 2025. 

It was not immediately clear which group was holding them and what demands it had made.

Libyan news channel releases video of the two women freed from captivity

In a video released by Libya's al-Masar TV, the women appeared physically weakened. 

Both women thanked the deputy commander-in-chief of Libya's armed forces, Khalifa Hifter, and his son, Saddam, for their release. Hifter reportedly oversaw the operation that freed the women.

"I had been held hostage for a year and nine months," Eva G. said, while Abbt said she was "happy to be free," also thanking Hifter.

Libya and Niger share a border hundreds of miles long, cutting through the Sahara Desert and connecting with Algeria and Chad on either side. Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

At the moment, two governments are vying for power there: a UN-recognized administration led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and its rival in the east, backed by Hifter.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

Editor's note: DW has not yet independently verified the video released by the Libyan news channel that shows the two women, now freed, speaking to camera.