WASHINGTON — U.S. forces recovered an American citizen who'd been held hostage for several days by a group of armed men in Northern Nigeria, in what President Donald Trump termed a "daring nighttime rescue operation."
"This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State," Jonathan Hoffman, chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.
No U.S. military personnel were injured during the rescue in the early hours of Saturday morning, said Hoffman.
Trump earlier called it a "big win for our very elite U.S. Special Forces" and said more details would follow.
"Some of our bravest and most skilled warriors rescued a U.S. citizen after a group of armed men took him hostage across the border in Niger," Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement.
U.S. authorities didn't identify the individual. But ABC News reported on Oct. 28 that Philip Walton, 27, an American missionary, had been abducted from his home in a small southern Niger village, close to the border with Nigeria.
