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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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08Jan16
Swiss missionary kidnapped a second time in Mali's Timbuktu
A Swiss missionary was kidnapped from her home in Timbuktu on Friday, nearly four years after she was abducted by Islamist militants from the same house, the Malian army and a local resident said.
There was no information on the attackers and no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is active in desert areas north of the city and has a history of seizing foreigners and demanding ransoms.
In April 2012, militants kidnapped Beatrice Stockly and released her days later. She returned to her work as a missionary. A resident of Timbuktu who knows Stockly told Reuters she had again been abducted.
"I confirm that a European woman was kidnapped in Timbuktu at 3.30 a.m. (0330 GMT). A neighbor alerted the security forces around 6 a.m.," said army spokesman Souleymane Maiga.
French forces drove Islamist fighters from major urban centers in 2013 but they have intensified their insurgency with a series of attacks and roadside bombings last year.
Two militants attacked a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako on Nov. 20, killing 20 people, many of whom were foreigners.
Three Islamist militant groups including AQIM claimed responsibility for the hotel attack, which showed the militants extending their reach beyond the north.
In a separate incident, an unidentified gunman shot three people dead outside a Christian radio station in Timbuktu in December. A veteran jihadist called for a return to Islamic sharia law at a recent meeting attended by hundreds of locals near Timbuktu, an AQIM video showed this week.
Hostage-taking
Dozens of Westerners were abducted by desert militants in West and North Africa in the five years before the French military operation in Mali in 2013.
There has been a lull since then, with many foreigners too frightened to visit. In the last known abduction attempt, two French journalists from Radio France International were killed in Kidal, northern Mali, in Nov. 2013.
Two Western hostages kidnapped in north Mali in 2011 are still being held by al Qaeda militants.
The Swiss foreign ministry in Berne said on Friday it was aware of the "alleged kidnapping" of a Swiss citizen in Mali.
"The Swiss local representative is in contact with the local authorities," it said in an email.
"For privacy and data protection reasons, no further information can be given at the moment."
France continues to fight militants in Mali and elsewhere in the desert region with a 3,500-strong counter-terrorism force called Barkhane. A 10,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force (MINUSMA) is also present in Mali.
"We are on the lookout for information that might be helpful in locating her," MINUSMA spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said of the Stockly case.
[Source: By Tiemoko Diallo, Reuters, Bamako, 08Jan16]
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 | This document has been published on 11Jan16 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |