The attack took place in Djanet in southeastern Algeria on October 11, but was first reported this week by the French newspaper Liberation.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry told AFP that it was aware of “the violent death of a Swiss citizen on October 11 in southeastern Algeria”.
It said she had been part of a group of five travellers, all of them Swiss, but provided no further details.
Algerian authorities have meanwhile remained silent about the attack, and Swiss broadcaster RTS reported that the authorities had even asked residents in the area to refrain from sharing information on social media about what had happened.
At the time of the attack, the woman, whose name and age were not given, was reportedly seated outside a popular Djanet cafe with her children and a friend.
The attacker, reportedly a young man from northern Algeria, slit the woman’s throat, and she later died in hospital, according to RTS.