Kidnapping Crisis: Indian Workers Abducted Amid Rising Insecurity in Niger

Five Indian citizens were abducted in western Niger amid violence that also left a dozen soldiers dead. The kidnapped individuals were working on Niger's Kandadji dam project. The incident underscores the region's escalating jihadist insurgency and frequent kidnappings, linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State activities in the area.

Five Indian nationals were abducted last week by armed men during an attack in western Niger that also resulted in the deaths of 12 soldiers, according to reports from Nigerian security sources and an Indian state statement disclosed by Reuters.

The abductees were employed by an Indian firm servicing the Kandadji dam project. The Jharkhand state government confirmed they were working in Niger's Tillaberi region and noted that India's embassy in Niger has reached out to Nigerian authorities for their release.

The attackers remain unidentified, though Niger has previously implicated the EIGS group in similar violence. Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali continue to combat a jihadist insurgency linked to infamous groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State, with kidnappings on the rise in the region.

(With inputs from agencies.)