DAKAR: An organisation that monitors jihadi sites says al-Qaida's North Africa branch has released video of Swiss woman abducted recently in Timbuktu.

SITE Intelligence Group says the Sahara division of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb posted the proof-of-life video of Beatrice Stockly Tuesday on Telegram and Twitter. It says a fighter in the video dated January 16 demands the release of fighters imprisoned in Mali and one captured in Niger in exchange for her release.

Switzerland's Foreign Ministry says it has called for Stockly's unconditional release. It says it has been in contact with her family and Malian authorities since the kidnapping.

The Swiss woman, who had been briefly abducted back in 2012, was kidnapped again on January 7 by jihadists who scaled the walls of her Timbuktu home.