Medical charities say that a Nigerien health worker was killed by kidnappers but five others have been released.

The aid organizations BEFEN and Health Alert announced that five health workers were freed in Niger Saturday but said their colleague Aime Soulembaye died of wounds received when unidentified gunmen kidnapped them on Oct. 14 from the town of Dakoro, in southwestern Niger.

BEFEN issued a statement from the capital Niamey saying that Soulembaye was shot during the kidnapping and later died. It said Soulambaye and the others had helped more than 20,000 children with malnutrition and malaria in Niger.

The kidnappers are suspected to have been Islamist extremists who have kidnapped other aid workers and taken them to northern Mali to be held for ransom.