NIAMEY, Niger — Armed men kidnapped 15 girls overnight in southeastern Niger, the local mayor said on Saturday.

Boukar Mani Orthe, the mayor of Toumour in the Diffa Region of Niger near the border with Nigeria, said about 50 unidentified armed men had seized the girls in a village about six miles from the town center.

There was no claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, has used mass kidnappings of students as a tactic to terrorize the population.

In Cameroon earlier this month, dozens of students kidnapped from a boarding school were freed after being held hostage for about two days, according to local and military officials.