BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A journalist in northern Mali says a Swiss woman has been abducted by armed men in Timbuktu.
The woman, who was working as a missionary, was taken from her home Sunday afternoon, according to Kader Kalil, director of Radio Bouctou.
Almost all Westerners have left the north of Mali since Tuareg fighters and an Islamist group with links to al-Qaida’s North Africa branch took control of the area two weeks ago.
The developments came after Mali’s longtime president was ousted in a coup last month.
The al-Qaida militants have been responsible for dozens of kidnappings of Westerners in the Sahel region over the last five years.
