An 88-year-old Australian doctor who has been in the captivity of al-Qaeda militants in Burkina Faso for more than seven years has been released. 

Australia’s foreign minister confirmed to newsmen on Friday that Dr. Kenneth Elliott is now safe and well and has been reunited with his family.

He and his wife were seized in 2016 near the border between Burkina Faso and Mali, where they operated a clinic for over 40 years.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said at the time it had kidnapped the couple.

The group released his wife, Jocelyn, after three weeks following public pressure and what it described as “guidance” from its leaders not to involve women in war.