American held hostage since 2016 in West Africa released

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Mar 20, 2023, 04:54 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: CBS News

Jeff Woodke, an American aid worker held hostage in West Africa for more than six years, has been released, according to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Woodke was taken from his home in Abalak, Niger, in 2016 by a terrorist network that operates across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. He was released outside of Niger in the Mali-Burkina Faso area, a senior administration official said.

"I'm gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan tweeted Monday morning. "The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who've worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom." National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Woodke will be reunited with his family following a full medical check.

"There were no concessions made. There were no swaps here," Kirby said. "This was just hard, grueling, deliberate work by diplomats and other experts directly with the government of Niger to get him home." Woodke lived in Niger for years before he was taken, helping people groups in the Sahel region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger as part of a trip to Africa last week.

During an unrelated event Monday, the president said he was proud to announce Woodke's return, and noted his administration is working to bring all Americans held hostage home. Also on Monday, the nonprofit group Reporters without Borders announced that French journalist Olivier Dubois was released after being hostage for 711 days by an armed group affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Sahel. The nonprofit group said the journalist resurfaced, "free and smiling," on Monday in Niger's capital.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-woodke-hostage-freed-american-niger-africa/

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Article updated.

Previous article -

Jeff Woodke, an American aid worker held hostage in West Africa for more than six years, has been released, according to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Woodke was taken from his home in Abalak, Niger, in 2016 by a terrorist network that operates across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. He was released outside of Niger in the Mali-Burkina Faso area, a senior administration official said.

"I'm gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan tweeted Monday morning. "The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who've worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom."

Woodke lived in Niger for years before he was taken, helping people groups in the Sahel region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger as part of a trip to Africa last week.

Also on Monday, the nonprofit group Reporters without Borders announced that French journalist Olivier Dubois was released after being hostage for 711 days by an armed group affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Sahel. The nonprofit group said the journalist resurfaced, "free and smiling," on Monday in Niger's capital.

Original article -

Jeff Woodke, an American aid worker held hostage in West Africa for more than six years, has been released, according to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Woodke was taken from his home in Abalak, Niger, in 2016 by men who ambushed and killed his guards, forcing him at gunpoint into their truck, according to the Associated Press. His wife believed he was abducted by a West African affiliate of the Islamic State, or ISIS.

"I'm gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan tweeted Monday morning. "The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who've worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom."


This is a developing story.

[Aviation Pro]

1. Another win for President Biden

And where was Motherfucker on this since Jan. 20, 2017? AWOL as usual, the fucking scamming, shamming, Spec-4 of a pretend president.

ADX Florence and Rikers are warming up Bloated Tick's toilet seats.

[Scrivener7]

2. Can you imagine? How terrifying for him and his family. Glad to see this.

In the olden days I had a roommate who was the daughter of a WSJ editor(before Murdoch slimed it up). They lost a reporter in Iran during the time of the hostage crisis. It only lasted 2 weeks that he was missing, but the terror people went through was inhuman. He had been taken, but was released for some reason.

But six years!

[PufPuf23]

3. Woodke is a resident of McKinleyville in Humboldt County, California

Here is a local report and one can find links to other local stories about Woodke.

MCKINLEYVILLE MAN FREED AFTER BEING HELD HOSTAGE SIX YEARS

Monday, 20 March 2023, 9:01 am Kym Kemp


Jeff Woodke, a McKinleyville man, is widely reported to have been freed after having been kidnapped in Niger in October of 2016.

Jake Sullivan, a US Government official tweeted this morning just before 7 a.m., “I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity. The U.S. thanks Niger for its help in bringing him home to all who miss & love him. I thank so many across our government who’ve worked tirelessly toward securing his freedom.”

According to a report in the New York Times this morning, his wife, Els Woodke, who is also of McKinleyville, told them “He is safe…I don’t yet know if he is healthy.”

A report in the Daily Mail at the time of Woodke’s kidnapping, “Gunmen stormed the house of a longtime American aid worker in Niger, killing two people before fleeing with the man toward the border with Mali, authorities said.”

more and other links at: https://kymkemp.com/2023/03/20/mckinleyville-man-freed-after-being-held-hostage-six-years/

[maxsolomon]

4. 6 years with Al Queda in the Islamic Maghreb

What a story he'll have to tell.

[XanaDUer2]

5. Good nt