At least five Niger soldiers killed in desert raid

Reuters - 08/03/10
At least five Niger soldiers killed in desert raid
Monday 8 March 2010

At least five soldiers were killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen close to Niger’s border with Mali, a security source in Niger said on Monday.

The raid close to Oualam, around 125 km (78 miles) north of Niger’s capital Niamey, took place in an area where al Qeada’s North African wing, known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM) operates, as do groups of Tuareg rebels.

"Our soliders were ambushed at sunrise. They were attacked by rockets and machine gun fire," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "At least five of our soliders were killed, and several were injured," he said.

Clashes between soldiers and armed gangs are frequent along the uranium-exporting country’s border with Mali.

A military coup in Niger last month, combined with rising tensions between governments in the largely desert region of northwest Africa, is undermining counter-terror efforts, security experts say .