Niger rebels kidnap six soldiers in desert raid

NIAMEY, Sep 7 (Reuters) Tuareg-led rebels in northern Niger kidnapped six soldiers and stole ammunition during an overnight attack on a military outpost in the desert town of Adharous, the insurgents and a local official said today.

''Yesterday evening, the justice fighters attacked a military post at Adharous. They took the six soldiers on duty hostage, and took a vehicle and munitions,'' the rebel Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) on its Web site m-n-j.blogspot.com.

The MNJ has killed more than 40 government troops and taken dozens hostage since launching its uprising in February, causing President Mamadou Tandja to declare a state of alert in the region around the ancient trading town of Agadez.

The governor of the Agadez region, Abba Malam Boukar, said the armed men had tried to destroy water and electricity installations supplying the towns of Tchirozerine and Agadez during the attack but the security forces had fought them off.

A search was under way for the six missing soldiers, he said.

The insecurity has crippled the local economy in a region which contains some of the world's largest reserves of uranium and where foreign firms are prospecting for oil.

REUTERS SLD KN1915