US missionary released following kidnap in Niger, Christian group says

An American missionary has been released after spending more than nine months in captivity, the international Christian organisation he worked for has said.Kevin Rideout - who was kidnapped outside his home in Niger's capital Niamey last year - was "in good health in the care of US officials", SIM International said in a statement on Friday.The New York Times, which first reported Rideout's release, cited unnamed US officials saying that he was now in FBI custody, though details of how he was released, as well as who he had been held by, remained unclear.There had been concerns that Rideout had been taken by militants, who have increasingly used violence and abductions as tactics. Rideout's kidnapping in October was carried out by three armed men who took him to the western Tillaberi region, a location known as a hotbed of militant activity, news agency Reuters reported, citing diplomatic sources.It was feared he may have been taken there by militants belonging to groups like Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate which has been linked to several attacks in the region. Islamist militant groups operating from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso have plagued Niger for years, targeting both civilians and the military.The region has seen a wave of violence as jihadists have been fighting government security forces as well as Western and other allied troops.