Gunmen kidnap German humanitarian worker in western Niger

NIAMEY, Niger – An aid organization says one of its German workers has been kidnapped by armed men in Niger’s western Tillaberi region near the border with Mali.

German news agency dpa cites Help organization’s deputy manager Bianca Kaltschmitt as saying a colleague in Niger was kidnapped on Wednesday.

An organization staffer in Niger’s capital, Niamey, says the attackers came on motorcycles and seized the worker, burning the vehicle in which he was travelling. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the press.

The staffer says the aid worker and his Nigerien colleagues did not have a military escort.

Several extremist groups are active in the region where four U.S. soldiers and five Nigerien ones were killed in October.