Aid workers kidnapped while sleeping

The governor of the province of Maradi in Central Niger says that six aid workers from a local group have been abducted from the guesthouse where they were sleeping.

Governor Sidi Mohamed says that late Sunday night unidentified men in two Toyota pickup trucks seized the six workers of the aid group "Bien-Etre Familiale," meaning "Family Health," who were sleeping in a guesthouse owned by CARE International. 

Mohamed says the six were all African, including one Chadian and five Nigeriens.

The Toyotas then sped off, heading north.

An Al Qaida affiliate based in Mali has made a business out of kidnapping Westerners, and numerous foreigners were taken in Niger, including two French nationals who were seized from a popular bar in Niger's capital of Niamey.