Saharan rebels kill 3 soldiers in Niger attack
Source: Reuters
(Adds government statement, local radio, U.S. military) By Abdoulaye Massalatchi NIAMEY, Feb 8 (Reuters) - A nomadic rebel group attacked a remote Saharan desert town in northern Niger on Thursday, killing at least three members of the security forces in the rebellion-prone and potentially oil-rich region. Attackers in three off-road vehicles launched the surprise assault on the town of Iferouane, more than 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of the capital Niamey, in the early hours, government spokesman Mohamed Ben Omar said. He said the attacks had been led by bandits known by the names of Alambo, Kalakoua and Al Charif, all members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS), one of several nomadic groups which fought a rebellion in the 1990s. "This attack will not go unpunished," Ben Omar said. "All necessary measures are being taken to reinforce security in the northern zone ... to put an end to the actions of these adventurers who, without scruple, do not hesitate to attack their defenceless brothers and sisters." Military sources said the fighting in Iferouane -- a small town in the Sahara's Air Massif, a vast expanse of volcanic boulders and dunes -- lasted several hours before the attackers retreated, chased by the army.Insecurity in the Sahel region on the edge of the Sahara has become an increasing concern to the United States, which fears militant Islamic groups are using its vast ungoverned spaces as safe havens to recruit and train.Land-locked Niger, one of the poorest nations on earth, has proven oil reserves of 300 million barrels but has not found a commercially viable way of getting crude either south to the Gulf of Guinea or north to the Mediterranean for export. Local radio broadcast an interview on Monday with a man claiming to be a FARS spokesman who called on workers from the Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC), which is prospecting for oil in the region, to leave for their own safety. "The Chinese are somewhat in danger because they are in our zone, a few kilometres from our base. The company must stop operating until further instructions," the man said. CNPC staff in Niger were not available to comment. REGIONAL INSECURITY Numerous nomadic ethnic Tuareg, Arab and Toubou groups in Niger's desert north staged an uprising in the 1990s demanding more autonomy from a black African-dominated government. Most groups accepted peace deals in 1995 but insecurity remains rife, with frequent acts of banditry, carjacking and kidnapping by former rebels who say they are still marginalised and accuse the government of failing to respect the accords. One soldier was killed and another seriously injured in an attack last month. Last August the long-dormant FARS, which is made up of ethnic Toubous and signed its own peace deal in 1997, kidnapped 20 Italian tourists. Most were quickly released but two of them were held for close to two months before being freed in Libya. Army chiefs from nine nations in the region, including Niger, met U.S. military officials in Senegal on Wednesday to discuss intelligence sharing and training, part of a "Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Programme" Washington runs. (Additional reporting by Nick Tattersall in Dakar)
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