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US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo: "Will never abandon an American hostage"
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CHIP SOMODEVILLA / AFP
On Tuesday, Nigerian authorities reported the kidnapping of an American in the village of Massalata in southwest Niger on the border with Nigeria.
Now it has apparently been possible to free the man.
The US Department of Defense announced this on Saturday.
The victim was dragged across the Niger border as a hostage by a group of armed men.
Now the US citizen is safe again, no one was injured during the operation, it said.
The US authorities did not provide any information on the identity of the abductee.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo praised "some of our bravest and most capable fighters" and promised: "We will never abandon an American hostage."
There are repeated attacks by armed groups in Niger, especially in the west and south-east of the country.
Several terrorist groups are active in the Sahel region, some have sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda or the "Islamic State".
Six French and two Nigerians were recently killed in a nature park south of the capital Niamey in Niger.
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ala / dpa
