A U.S. missionary working for evangelical Christian organization SIM has been abducted in Niger’s capital Niamey, officials said Wednesday.

It marks the latest in a spate of kidnappings of westerners this year in northern Niger, a country plagued by jihadist violence and governed by a military junta for over two years.

The victim, a man in his 50s identified by one group as Kevin Rideout, is “already en route for the border with Mali,” a stronghold for jihadist groups, a diplomatic source said after he was seized Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday evening confirmed the abduction to AFP, saying the U.S. administration was via its Niamey embassy doing all it could to obtain the man’s safe release.

SIM operates in several areas of Niger and across west Africa where it evangel

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