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A Swedish man captured by Al-Qaeda in Mali has been freed, Swedish authorities have confirmed.
Hostage Johan Gustafsson has been in captivity in the landlocked West African country since 2011.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström in a statement released on Monday confirmed that Gustafsson, 42, was being flown back to Sweden from Africa.
The Swede was seized by Al-Qaeda in in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) along with two other men, one of whom was freed in a dawn raid in 2015.
Local media report Gustafsson to have been “in good spirits” after his release.
AQIM took a number of Western hostages before the French military deployed its forces in January 2013.
