Family of American national held by Islamist extremists in Africa appeals for help securing his release

The family of an American man believed to be held hostage by Islamist extremists in Mali appealed for help Wednesday in securing his release after more than five years in captivity.

Els Woodke said she believed her husband, Christian aid worker Jeff Woodke, had recently been transferred from the custody of Islamic State militants in Mali to that of an al-Qaeda affiliate whose leader may be more open to negotiating his release.

Jeff Woodke had lived in neighboring Niger full-time for more than 15 years when armed men appeared at his home in Abalak in October 2016, killing his guards and abducting him, Els Woodke told reporters in Washington.

The California native, now 61, had spent about three decades living part- or full-time in Niger, where his work included construction of wells and schools, his wife said.

Els Woodke has made only limited statements to the media since her husband’s disappearance due in large part to guidance from the U.S. government, which has often advised families of hostages to avoid drawing attention to efforts to obtain their release.

She said she is now embracing a more public strategy because previous attempts to secure his freedom were unsuccessful and because her husband’s new captors appeared to be more amenable to freeing him.

Woodke said she believed her husband had initially been held by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and that his transfer occurred after the death of that group’s leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, in a French military operation in August.

The group is also believed to have been involved in an attack that resulted in the deaths of four American troops in 2017.

Source: Washington Post