An American aid worker worker who was taken captive by militants more than six years ago has been freed, the Biden administration said Monday, but the details of his release remain unclear.
An American aid worker who was taken captive by militants more than six years ago has been freed, the Biden administration said Monday, but the details of his release remain unclear.
Jeffery Woodke, a Christian aid worker, was abducted in Niger in 2016 and believed to have been taken later to Mali.“I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Twitter. Sullivan thanked the government of Niger for helping secure Woodke’s return. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just returned from Niger on Friday in the first visit to the West African country by a sitting secretary of state.
“I thank so many across our government who’ve worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom,” Sullivan said.Woodke had lived in Niger full-time for more than 15 years when armed men appeared at his home in Abalak in October 2016, killing his guards and abducting him, according to his family. The California native had spent about three decades living part- or full-time in Niger, where his work included construction of wells and schools, his wife, Els Woodke, said.
In 2017, Woodke said she believed her husband had initially been held by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and that his transfer occurred after the death of that group’s leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, in a
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