7 people, including 5 French, kidnapped in Niger

Armed Kidnappers

Armed assailants kidnapped five French nationals and two Africans working for French nuclear reactor builder Areva in Niger

Kidnapped while sleeping

The seven — who included one person from Togo and another from Madagascar — were seized by armed men while they were sleeping,

French electricity powered by Niger Uranium

Uranium, a metal used to make nuclear fuel, is a lucrative export for Niger, a desperately poor country. Areva, the world's largest nuclear manufacturer, gets much of its uranium from Niger.

Insecure Uranium mining area "Arlit Niger"

Increasing concerns about terrorism and trafficking in northwest Africa prompted four countries in the region — Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger — to open a joint military headquarters deep in the desert last April.

source: chron.com