Armed men kidnapped 15 girls overnight in south-eastern Niger, a local mayor said.
Boukar Mani Orthe, mayor of Toumour in Niger’s Diffa region near Nigeria, said about 50 unidentified armed men seized the girls in a village about 9 km from the town centre.
Last Thursday suspected Boko Haram fighters killed eight people working at French drilling company Foraco’s water well site in Toumour.
Boko Haram has been waging an insurrection since 2009 aimed at establishing an Islamic state in north-east Nigeria. It launched repeated attacks into Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Violence killed thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee their homes in the Lake Chad basin region.
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