UPDATE 5-Gunmen kidnap American citizen in southern Niger

* Man abducted in rural area near Nigerian border
* Family including young daughter left unhurt
* Niger struggling with deepening security crisis

(Adds U.S. State Department confirmation)
By Boureima Balima and David Lewis
NIAMEY, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Six gunmen on motorbikes with
AK-47 assault rifles kidnapped an American man from his home on
the edge of a rural village in southern Niger in the early hours
of Tuesday, multiple sources said.
The kidnappers seized 27-year-old Philip Walton, who kept
camels, sheep and poultry and grew mango trees near the border
with Nigeria, at around 0145 local time (0045 GMT), a police
source, two local officials and three security sources told
Reuters.
His wife, young daughter and his brother were left behind in
their home in the village of Massalata, the police source said.
The U.S. State Department confirmed an American citizen had
been abducted in Niger, but gave no further details.
Niger, like much of West Africa's Sahel region, is
struggling with 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.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger in
2017, sparking debate about America's role in the sparsely
populated West African desert that is home to some of the
world's poorest countries.
Walton does not work for the U.S. government or any
U.S.-linked organisation, the sources said.
He has been living in Massalata for less than a year, said
Ibrahim Abba Lele, prefect for the nearby town of Birnin Konni.
He often walked his camels into the surrounding bush, Lele said.
"They were so exposed that he was abducted without anyone
knowing," he told Reuters.
A Niger security source said aircraft had been dispatched to
search for the kidnappers. Nigerien officials did not respond to
requests for comment.
The police source said that the perpetrators appeared to be
from the Fulani ethnic group and they spoke Hausa and some
English. They asked for money and searched the house before
leaving with Walton.
The rest of the family was tied up so they could not inform
the authorities, Lele told Reuters, though the police source
said that the family were not threatened. Authorities believe
that he has been taken over the border into Nigeria, Lele said.
Attacks in Niger have generally been restricted to a western
zone bordering Mali and Burkina Faso, but there have been signs
of encroachment this year.
In August, gunmen killed six French aid workers, a Nigerian
guide and a driver in a giraffe reserve just 65 km (40 miles)
from the capital Niamey. Massalata is a few hundred miles to the east of that region.
It is also hundreds of miles from a corner of southeast Niger
that has come under attack from Islamist Boko Haram militants
based in Nigeria.
At least six foreign hostages are being held by Islamist
insurgents in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Islamists have
collected millions of dollars in ransom payments in recent
years. The U.S. government has frequently criticised other
countries for paying.