NIAMEY: Islamist suicide bombers struck an army barracks and a French-run uranium mine in Niger yesterday, officials said, killing 20 people and wounding dozens more in attacks that showed militant violence spreading across West Africa.
The coordinated dawn assault on Areva's mine at Arlit and the military base in Agadez were claimed by the MUJWA militant group in retaliation for a French-led offensive this year against Islamist insurgents in neighbouring Mali.
The attacks suggested Malian groups, despite the French campaign, remained capable of complex strikes against high-profile targets in parts of the Sahara far from their bases.
In Agadez, the largest town in Niger's desert north, at least 20 soldiers were killed and 16 injured when suicide bombers attacked the barracks, Defence Minister Mahamadou Karidjo told state radio.Reuters
