Béatrice Stöckli (died 9 October 2020) was a Swiss Christian missionary. She was killed in 2020 after having been taken hostage by the Islamic militant group

Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (, JNIM; , GSIM; ) is a Salafi jihadism, Salafi Jihadist organisation in the Maghreb and West Africa formed by the merger of Ansar Dine, Al-Mourabitoun (militant group), al-Mourabitoun and the Saharan branc ...

, a branch of

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Biography

Stöckli was from

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. She worked as an Evangelical Christian missionary in

. Stöckli was kidnapped in April 2012, after being in Mali for ten years, by an Islamic extremist group. She was later released under the terms that she not return to Mali. She returned, and was kidnapped again in 2016 by

, the official branch of

in Mali, while working in

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

. In July 2017 she appeared in a video released by the terrorist group, wearing a black headscarf, and was identified as "Beatrice S." On 9 October 2020 French authorities notified the Swiss Federal Government that a Swiss hostage in Mali was killed by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, after her death was confirmed by fellow hostage Sophie Pétronin. Her death was confirmed by the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, , , , ), so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affa ...

Ignazio Cassis Ignazio Daniele Giovanni Cassis (; born 13 April 1961) is a Swiss physician and politician who has been a List of members of the Swiss Federal Council, Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 November 2017. A member of FDP.The Liberals, Cas ...

, the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, released a statement saying "It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of our fellow citizen. I condemn this cruel act and express my deepest sympathy to the relatives." Stöckli's remains were recovered in March 2021.

References

2020 murders in Mali Christian missionaries in Mali Female Christian missionaries Islamic terrorism in Mali People from Basel-Stadt People killed by al-Qaeda People murdered in Mali Swiss Christian missionaries Swiss people taken hostage Swiss torture victims Violence against women in Mali Swiss people murdered abroad People killed in the Mali War 2020 deaths {{Switzerland-reli-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References