NIAMEY, July 23 (Reuters) - Niger's Tuareg-led rebels said on Monday they had killed some 10 government soldiers in fighting in the northern uranium-mining region near the Saharan caravan town of Agadez.

Before Monday's clash the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), led by light-skinned Tuareg nomads, had killed at least 36 soldiers and captured dozens more since they launched their rebellion in February to demand greater autonomy for the region.

"An army truck was destroyed with an RPG-7 rocket launcher, and around 10 soldiers are dead," the MNJ said on its Web site http://m-n-j.blogspot.com/.

The report could not be independently confirmed. Government and army officials could not be reached for immediate comment.

An anti-tank mine explosion killed three soldiers on Friday in the same area, which is the main mining zone in Niger, one of the world's top uranium producers.

Tuareg groups fought a rebellion in the early 1990s which ended with a 1995 peace deal that promised more investment in the sparsely populated north and incorporated former rebel fighters into the ranks of the government forces.

The MNJ says the peace deal has not been fully respected, though the government insists it has met its obligations and refuses to negotiate with the rebels, whom it dismisses as drug traffickers and bandits.

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