Algeria said on Saturday that a German citizen kidnapped by an armed criminal group some two weeks ago in neighboring Niger was safe and in the hands of the Algerian military.

The German national was taken in charge by the Algerian army's security services on Friday, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry shared on the official Algerian news agency.

He has now been taken on a special flight from Guezzam in the far south to the Boufarik military base near the capital Algiers, it said, adding that he was in "good health" and would be handed to German authorities "at a later date."

No details were provided on how the German national was freed.

A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry told DW it was aware of the case, but added that the government "does not comment on cases involving the abduction of German citizens abroad."

Niger, which has been under military rule since a July 2023 coup, has in the past few years been wracked by violence from jihadis linked to the al-Qaeda or the "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist groups.

Edited by: Rana Taha

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