NIAMEY, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Niger's President Mamadou Tandja declared a state of alert in the country's desert north on Friday, giving the security forces additional powers in their fight against an insurgency by Tuareg-led rebels.

"A state of alert is declared for 3 months," Tandja said in a decree read on national radio.

The rebel Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) has killed at least 45 soldiers in the West African nation's remote Saharan north since February.

Tandja's decree gives additional powers of arrest and detention to the security forces and restricts the movement of civilians on main routes between towns in the region, home to some of the world's largest reserves of uranium.

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