Dutch national Sjaak Rijke, kidnapped by extremists while on holiday in 2011, rescued in operation in which some militants were killed and others captured

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

French special forces have rescued a Dutch hostage in Mali after discovering him by surprise during a dawn raid against suspected al-Qaida-linked jihadists.

Sjaak Rijke, a 54-year-old Dutch train conductor, had been kidnapped from a hotel in Timbuktu in northern Mali in November 2011 while on a dream holiday with his wife. He had been held hostage for three and a half years.

The French president, François Hollande, said French commandos had stumbled upon Rijke by chance. “It was a surprise for us – for our forces – to be able to free this hostage because we did not have information on the presence of this hostage.”

He said Rijke had been transported to a temporary base in Tessalit in north-east Mali and that a number of suspected jihadists had been killed in the raid.

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Rijke and his wife had been described in the Dutch media as seasoned travellers who were on a “dream trip” to cross the Sahara in 2011 when gunmen stormed their hotel in Timbuktu. Rijke’s wife escaped the attackers. A South African and a Swedish man were captured alongside Rijke and are still being held.

In November 2014, the North African al Qaida-affiliated group, AQIM, released a video of Rijke making a statement on the 1,000th day of his captivity.

Also seen on the video was Frenchman Serge Lazarevic, who had been held captive in the Sahara for three years, and was released the following month in exchange for four Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida in north Africa.

After the French raid freed Rijke, the Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders he was “doing well considering the circumstances”.

He said: “It is extraordinary news for Sjaak and his family. I am happy and grateful that this horrible period of uncertainty and distress is over.”

Timo Huges, the head of the Dutch railway company, said he was “very relieved that Rijke was once again a free man”, adding: “I hope he comes back to the Netherlands soon.”

In his home town, Woerden, residents flew the Dutch flag to mark his release.

France led a military intervention against al-Qaida-linked militants in its former colony of Mali in January 2013. It has since created Operation Barkhane, a 3,000-strong military force to track down Islamist militants across a band of the Sahara desert stretching across five countries from Chad in the east to Mauritania in the west.

But Mali’s vast desert north is riven by ethnic rivalries and an Islamist insurgency and extremist fighters remain active throughout the restive north-east.

Hollande said “the battle against terrorism in Mali is not over. We still have 3,000 men in the region – not only in Mali – to carry out the battle against terrorism.”

France announced last month that it would further boost its military presence in the Sahel to also support the fight against Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists.