(ANSA) - GENEVA, OCTOBER 10 - Switzerland announced that a missionary from Basel was killed in Mali, Federal Department (Ministry) of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Valentin Clivaz told the Keystone-ATS agency.
According to the Swiss medias it would be the 59-year-old Béatrice Stockly.
The woman, who had been working as a missionary in Timbuktu for years, was kidnapped in early 2016. She had already been kidnapped a first time in April 2012, the agency said.
Those responsible for the killing are allegedly members of the Islamist terrorist organization Jama'at Nasr al-Islamwal Muslim (Front for supporting Islam and Muslims). The exact circumstances of the murder are not yet clear. The Swiss authorities learned the information from Paris, which was informed by the recently released French hostage.
Bern now intends to do everything possible to ascertain the exact circumstances of the killing and to obtain the remains of the Swiss hostage. To this end, it will also address Mali's transitional government, a statement from the ministry said.
(HANDLE).