British mum kidnapped in Malawi rescued after police shootout

A British mother of two who was abducted in the southern African nation of Malawi last week has been rescued, police say.

Inspector General Richard Luhanga, the head of the Malawi police, said Nusrat Osman, 47, was safe and had been reunited with her family following a police operation in the southern city of Blantyre on Thursday that left her four suspected kidnappers dead.

The Malawi Police Service said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspects, who were armed with an AK-47 rifle and a Girsan Regard MC pistol.

"The criminals got shot and were rushed to the hospital where they succumbed to the injuries," police said in the statement.

During the operation, Deputy Inspector General of Police Noel Kayira also sustained gunshot wounds and is being treated in hospital in a stable condition.

Osman's brother, Shobi Jiwa, had earlier confirmed to Malawi news outlet Nation Online that she had been rescued in an operation in which the police officer was shot and wounded.

Osman, who works for a local auditing firm, was abducted about 12.30pm local time last Friday, September 11, in a neighbourhood of the southern city of Blantyre.

She and her family moved to Malawi from Leicester after her husband set up a business in the country.

Malawi police had said they were looking for four men who had used a grey car to kidnap her.

The motive was not clear, police said, and the suspects had not contacted Osman's family or authorities.

Authorities had offered a reward of about £12,600 for information leading to Osman’s rescue and the arrest and conviction of the kidnappers.

Local politician Atupele Muluzi described the case as “deeply disturbing”, adding that it was one of an increasing number of similar incidents in the country.

“Kidnappings and abductions are becoming increasingly frequent in Malawi, a country where such incidents were previously largely unheard of,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

At the time, the UK Foreign Office said it was aware of reports that a British national had been abducted in Malawi and was in touch with local authorities about the situation.