NIAMEY (NIGERIA), 21 Jul. (EP/AP) -
Tres soldados murieron el viernes en el norte de Nigeria al explotar una mina mientras patrullaban
_ Three soldiers were killed and one wounded when they struck a rebel-planted land mine during a patrol in northern Niger, the military said.
The mine exploded Friday in the town of Aborak, the military said in a statement blaming the Niger Movement for Justice, a rebel movement that has waged a campaign against the government for months in the West African nation's northern deserts.
In a statement on their Web site, rebels said they killed five government troops and wounded several others in an exchange of fire Friday in the same town. The rebel statement made no mention of a mine.
Niger, a former French colony, has been largely peaceful since a 1999 coup in which military officers took over the government, then ushered in elections later that year.
The Tuareg rebels are fighting for greater rights for their ethnic group. In 1990, a rebellion broke out in northern Niger in the area that is home to the blue-robed nomads. A 1995 peace accord promised greater rights to the minority, including a degree of autonomy as well as integration in the country's armed forces and government.
The recently formed MNJ claims the rights they were promised have not materialized. 210118 jul 07GMT
