Libya recovers Swiss, Austrian girls kidnapped since 2025 in Niger

Two girls, Swiss nationwide Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Austrian Claudia Abbt, 69, have been launched after spending greater than a 12 months in captivity in Niger, arriving safely in Libya’s japanese metropolis of Benghazi, in keeping with Libyan media reviews on Thursday.

The two girls have been kidnapped in Niger in 2025. In a video launched by Libya’s eastern-based al-Masar TV, the ladies appeared emaciated and expressed gratitude to the nation’s eastern-based army commander Khalifa Haftar and his son, Saddam, for securing their launch.

Al-Masar reported that “two hostages, an Austrian and a Swiss national, have been freed after being held captive in Niger for a year and a half”.

“My name is Eva Gretzmacher, I am 76, and I thank from the bottom of my heart Marshal Haftar and his son, Saddam, who released us,” one of many girls mentioned in French.
“I had been held hostage for a year and nine months,” she added.

Abbt said that she was “happy to be free”, whereas additionally thanking Haftar.

The on-line web site Libyan News Observatory additionally reported on their launch.

Libya has struggled to recuperate from the chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed rebellion that toppled longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Currently, two rival governments are vying for energy: a UN-recognized administration in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and a rival administration within the east backed by Haftar.