Al Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel denies involvement in the kidnapping of an Austrian woman in Niger

MADRID Jan. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the affiliate of Al Qaeda in the Sahel, denied this Monday in a statement any relationship with the kidnapping on Saturday of the 73-year-old Austrian aid worker Eva Gretzmacher, who was captured by armed individuals. unidentified in Agadez.

“We have no relationship with this act and we reject the accusations that have been made against us,” said the Az Zallaqa Foundation, the official communication organ of the jihadist group, quoted by the APA news agency.

The group, which has a history of kidnapping European citizens to obtain financing, has described as “false” the information disseminated by some media about its participation in the kidnapping, for which it calls for “rigor.”

The woman was assaulted when she was traveling in an SUV through a desert area in the Agadez region, in the center of the country, according to sources from the Nigerien security apparatus cited by local media.

The Austrian Embassy in Algeria, also in charge of Niger, is in contact with other European countries, the EU delegation for the region and with the authorities of the African country, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted by the Austrian newspaper ‘Der Standard’.

Gretzmacher has been working as an aid worker in Agadez for 30 years, where he founded the NGO Amanay.

The Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), the affiliate of Al Qaeda, was created in 2017 after the merger of several jihadist groups.