DAKAR, 22 January 2008 (IRIN) - An anti-government rebel group in Niger has claimed responsibility for an attack on the southeastern town Tanout near the eastern humanitarian aid hub Zinder on 21 January.

Three people were killed and seven abducted – including the prefet, the most senior government official in Tanout – in the evening raid, according to the governor of the Zinder region, interviewed by the Reuters news agency on 22 January. Tanout is 150 km north of Zinder and 950 km east of the capital Niamey.

The Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) on its website claimed to have taken 11 prisoners and killed seven police and soldiers.

The attack in Tanout is part of a gradual widening of a conflict between the MNJ and the government which started in February 2007. Since December, mines have exploded for the first time in the key aid hubs and trading towns Maradi and Tahoua and in Niamey.

Read full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=76376