Tag: Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Swiss woman, hostage almost 5 years, killed by Islamist extremists in Mali

October 10, 2020 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Beatrice Stockli, Burkina Faso, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Niger

Beatrice Stockli settled in Timbuktu in 2000 and was first kidnapped for 10 days in 2012

A Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockli – kidnapped from Timbuktu in northern Mali in January 2016 – was killed only weeks before other hostages were freed by Islamist extremists, in an apparent prisoner-hostage swap negotiated by the new transitional government in Mali. News of her execution came from Sophie Petronin, a . . . Read More

1,000 days since kidnap of 84-year-old doctor in Burkina Faso, family plead for his release

October 16, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Burkina Faso, Djibo, Ken Elliott, Ouagadougou

It’s over 1,000 days now since an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, was kidnapped in Djibo, Burkina Faso, on 15 January, 2016. His abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Dr. Elliott, with his wife, had run a 120-bed clinic in . . . Read More

Burkina Faso: Kidnappers release pastor and his family after four days

June 8, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Children, Djibo, Education, Fulani herdsmen, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Sahel, Soum, Tuareg

The pastor abducted on Sunday with his family in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum has been released. Local sources told Omega Radio that Pastor Pierre Boena, his son David and his daughter-in-law, Ami Sawadogo, were released yesterday (7 June). The report did not specifically mention the two granddaughters, Fasne-wendé . . . Read More

Second Christian leader in two weeks kidnapped in Burkina Faso

June 5, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Assemblies of God, Burkina Faso, Children, Djibo, Education, Islamic extremism, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Sahel, Soum, West Africa

A Christian pastor and three members of his family have been kidnapped in Burkina Faso’s north-eastern province of Soum, two weeks after the kidnapping of another Christian leader and his wife. Pierre Boena, a pastor with an Assembly of God church, was kidnapped during the evening of Sunday 3 June . . . Read More

Kidnapped Colombian nun appears in another hostage video

January 30, 2018 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Gloria Argoti, Kidnapping, Mali

A new video of the Colombian nun kidnapped in the south of Mali almost a year ago has been released on the Internet. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped on 7 February 2017 in Karangasso. “We have seen the video and we . . . Read More

Burkina Faso: 2 years on, thousands call for release of ‘doctor of the poor’ by Al-Qaeda offshoot

January 17, 2018 Burkina Faso Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Burkina Faso, Djibo, Ken Elliott, Kidnapping, Ouagadougou, Soum, West Africa

Thousands took to the streets of Djibo, a northern town in Burkina Faso, on Monday (15 January) to call for the government to secure the release of an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, kidnapped two years ago. The abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda . . . Read More

Mali: ‘Christians can simply be slaughtered’

December 11, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Islamic extremism, Mali, Missionaries, Tuareg

Christians from northern Mali, displaced by the violence that started in 2012, are settling and building homes in the south. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Sory* was threatened by Islamists when they heard about his work at a church in Djalloube, central Mali, and fled, leaving his family traumatised. “I started to face serious problems when the Islamists heard about me and the conversion of some of the people [from Islam to Christianity],” Sory says. . . . Read More

Mali: Colombian nun ‘not in good health’ after 7 months as hostage

September 20, 2017 Mali Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Gloria Argoti, Mali

The Colombian nun who was taken hostage in northern Mali in February this year is still alive but her health is suffering, according to reports by Catholic news agency Fides. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti “is alive but not in good health. She has problems with a leg and kidney”, . . . Read More

Jailed Algerian Christian receives partial presidential pardon

July 12, 2017 Algeria Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Bejaia, Berbers, Blasphemy, Constantine, Jijel, Kabylie, MAK, Setif, Slimane Bouhafs, Tizi Ouzou

Slimane Bouhafs has been released after 18 months in prison for alleged blasphemy on Facebook. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Christian imprisoned for three years for “insulting Islam and the prophet Muhammad” in his social media posts has received a partial presidential pardon. Slimane Bouhafs, who converted to Christianity from Islam in 1997, was arrested almost a year ago (31 July 2016) for posting a message on social media . . . Read More

Kidnapped missionaries appear in video posted by jihadist groups in Africa’s Sahel

July 3, 2017 Mali Al-Mourabitoun, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, Beatrice Stockly, France, Gao, Gloria Argoti, Ken Elliott, Sahel, Timbuktu

A coalition of jihadist groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda released a video showing six foreign hostages, including three missionaries, just hours before France president Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Mali, where France agreed to help support anti-terrorist efforts in the Sahel. According to the US-based monitoring group SITE, the undated 16’50” footage . . . Read More

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