“Friday afternoon the French authorities informed the Swiss authorities that the Swiss hostage in Mali is dead. She was apparently killed by kidnappers of the Islamist terrorist organization Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslim (JNIM) about a month ago,” the ministry said in a statement on late Friday.

Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis has expressed regret over the death of the hostage.

“I condemn this cruel act and express my deepest sympathy to the relatives,” Cassis said, as quoted by the statement.

The Swiss authorities are demanding handling over the remains of the killed hostage.

JNIM is an official branch of al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), which has been operating in the Maghreb and West Africa since 2017.