“This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State,” the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that no military personnel were injured in the operation.
While the Pentagon did not provide the American citizen’s identity, a U.S. official told Reuters it was 27-year-old Philip Walton, who was kidnapped earlier in the week, and the raid included Navy SEALs.
Six gunmen riding motorcycles and armed with AK-47 assault rifles kidnapped an Walton from his home on the edge of a rural village in neighboring southern Niger early on Tuesday.
Niger, like much of West Africa’s Sahel region, faces a deepening security crisis as groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State carry out attacks on the army and civilians, despite help from French and U.S. forces.
