Seven foreigners, including five French nationals, were kidnapped in Niger's northern uranium mining zone today, officials said.
The kidnapping, which includes a French employee of nuclear firm Areva and his wife, is likely to raise questions about security for mine workers in the region, where groups linked to al-Qaeda's North African wing operate.
The five others worked for Vinci, whose subsidiary Sogea-Satom is working as a contractor in the region.
The attack took place in the town of Arlit, the first in a wave of kidnappings to take place within the mining zone instead of in the remote desert where previous hostage-takings have occurred in the past year.
"Five French citizens are seemingly in the group," Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman said.
"(There have been) no demands for the moment, we will see what comes of that."
Areva and Vinci confirmed the overnight kidnapping in Arlit, a town used as a base for mining firms in Niger's north, and said they were working with the authorities to free the seven.
No further details were given of the nationalities of the Sogea-Satom staff, but French media said they were from France, Togo and Madagascar.
Tuareg rebels have previously been active in the region but attacks have died off since fighting eased last year.
However, the kidnapping of foreigners has become more frequent in West Africa's Sahara-Sahel region over the past year, with hostages usually ending up in the hands of groups linked to al-Qaeda's North African wing, AQIM.
"No matter who perpetrated this, there's a high likelihood they'll end up with AQIM," said Anna Murison, head of global jihad forecasting at Exclusive Analysis corporate intelligence company.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, talking to journalists in Brussels during a European Union summit, said he planned to hold emergency talks later today to decide what measures France would take.
"I have asked the Niger authorities to do all they can to free them," he said.
Speaking earlier at a Paris news conference, French interior minister Brice Hortefeux said France was on heightened terrorist alert.
"Several factors from the past few days and past few hours highlight that the terrorist threat is at a heightened level," he said when asked about the kidnappings and two bomb scares earlier this week.
Reuters