CANBERRA, Australia — An 88-year-old Australian physician held captive by Islamic extremists in West Africa for greater than seven years has been freed and has returned to Australia.

Kenneth Elliott was secure and nicely and was reunited along with his spouse and their kids on Thursday evening, Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated.

“I’m very pleased to advise that Dr. Ken Elliott, who’s been held hostage in Western Africa for some seven years, has been reunited in Australia with his family,” Wong advised reporters in Sydney.

Elliott and his spouse had been kidnapped in Burkina Faso, the place they'd run a medical clinic for 4 a long time. Jocelyn Elliott was launched three weeks later.

“We wish to express our thanks to God and all who have continued to pray for us,” Elliott’s household stated in a press release launched by Wong’s division.

“We express our relief that Dr. Elliott is free and thank the Australian government and all who have been involved over time to secure his release,” the household assertion stated.

Neither the household nor Wong detailed the circumstances of Elliott’s launch. The physician is from the west coast metropolis of Perth, however Wong didn't say the place the household was in Australia.

“At 88 years of age, and after many years away from home, Dr. Elliott now needs time and privacy to rest and rebuild strength,” the household added.

The militant group behind the kidnapping, Al-Qaida within the Islamic Maghreb, rose to prominence largely via kidnap-for-ransom operations focusing on overseas help employees and vacationers.

On the day the Australian couple had been kidnapped - Jan. 15, 2016 - 30 folks had been killed in an extremist assault in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou. Al-Qaida’s North Africa wing claimed accountability for that assault and different high-profile strikes in West Africa months earlier, together with killing 20 folks in an assault on a resort in Mali’s capital Bamako.

The Elliotts had been kidnapped close to the northern Burkina Faso city of Djibo, close to the border with Mali and Niger.

Jocelyn Elliott was freed in neighboring Niger. Niger’s then-President Mahamadou Issoufou had labored with Burkina Faso intelligence companies to safe her launch, his workplace stated on the time.

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