Kidnapped Viennese woman in Niger: terrorist militia denies responsibility

The group, through its media organization Az-Zallaqa Foundation, also criticized journalists and the local government’s security management amid the crisis in the region on Monday, regional media reported.

The 72 year old was kidnapped by unknown people in the desert town of Agadez on Saturday. According to KURIER information it is Eva Gretzmacher, who lives in Niger.

“We have no connection to this act and reject the allegations made against us,” the group said. JNIM described as “lies” information reported by the media that the militia had a history of kidnapping foreign citizens in the Sahel region to supplement their coffers for ransom.

Silence of the kidnappers

It was said by the Foreign Ministry and the Austrian’s family WHAT-Inquiry on Tuesday that the kidnappers had not yet reported themselves. The “silence” suggests that it was clear to the kidnappers that the Viennese woman, who was born at the end of April 1952, could not be ransomed, said a family member. There is a great wave of solidarity in the country.

Armed men broke into the woman’s home on Saturday and bundled her into an SUV. The Austrian, who has lived in Agadez for almost three decades, is viewed as a “sister” by the residents, the media write. She has been active in Niger since 1996 with the private cultural association Amanay, which she founded, and is very well connected in Agadez on the edge of the Sahara, including with the authorities. According to information on Facebook, she is committed to educating young people, for example in areas such as music, health, ecology or crafts such as tailoring. In 2010 it built its own competence center for this purpose. According to the family member, it is about encounters between cultures, religions and people.

Viennese woman kidnapped in Niger: crisis team

The Foreign Ministry has sent a representative from the embassy in Algeria to Niger. A crisis team was also set up to coordinate the measures. A search operation by local authorities is underway on site, it said.

Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), the “Support Group for Islam and Muslims”, is a Mali-based affiliated al-Qaeda group that in recent years has expanded its operations to neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal has expanded. As a formal al-Qaeda branch in Africa, JNIM is dedicated to disempowering regional governments and implementing Sharia (Islamic law) in the areas where it operates, says anti-extremism organization Counter Extremism Project (CEP). .