American citizen kidnapped in southern Niger, sources say

An American citizen was kidnapped near the town of Birnin Konni in southern Niger in the early hours of Tuesday morning, three security sources and a local official told Reuters.

The details of the kidnapping were not immediately clear, and no one had claimed responsibility on Tuesday morning. Niger is struggling with a security crisis as groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State carry out an increasing number of attacks on the army and civilians, particularly in the western region bordering Mali and Burkina Faso.

Birnin Konni is a few hundred miles to the east of that region, near the border with Nigeria.