Switzerland’s foreign ministry says Swiss hostage held in Mali has been killed by Islamist group

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry says a Swiss woman who was held hostage in Mali has been killed by an Islamist group. The ministry said in a statement that it was informed Friday by the French authorities that the hostage had been “killed by kidnappers of the Islamist terrorist organization Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Muslimeen about a month ago.” Switzerland’s foreign minister condemned the killing of the hostage. His country had quietly been trying to negotiate the woman’s release since she was kidnapped four years ago. Switzerland said information about the killing was obtained by the French authorities from a recently released French hostage. The fate of at least four other foreign hostages held by JNIM and its associates wasn’t immediately known.