NIAMEY, Niger - Suicide bombers in Niger detonated two car bombs simultaneously Thursday, one inside a military camp in the city of Agadez and another in the remote town of Arlit at a French-operated uranium mine, killing a total of 26 people and injuring 30, officials in Niger and France said.
A surviving attacker took a group of soldiers hostage, and authorities were attempting to negotiate their release.
The attack in Arlit was claimed by Moktar Belmoktar, the extremist who led the attack on a natural-gas plant in Ain Amenas in Algeria in January, according to a communique posted on jihadist forums.
Earlier, both attacks were claimed by a spinoff of al-Qaida, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, which earlier vowed to avenge the 4-month-old French-led military intervention which ousted them from towns in Mali’s north.
The timing of the attacks, which occurred at the same moment more than 100 miles apart, and the fact that the bombers were able to penetrate both a well-guarded military installation and a sensitive, foreign-operated uranium mine, highlight the growing reach and sophistication of the Islamic extremists based in neighboring Mali.
The most deaths were in the desert city of Agadez, almost 600 miles northeast of the capital, where the attackers drove their explosive-laden car past the defenses at a military garrison and detonated it inside the base, killing 20 soldiers and injuring 16 others, Niger Minister of Defense Mahamadou Karidjo said.
Three suicide bombers also died, but a fourth escaped and grabbed a group of military cadets, Interior Minister Abdou Labo said.
Draped in an explosive belt, the attacker was threatening to blow himself up along with his hostages, said Labo, who could not confirm how many cadets were being held. Almost 12 hours later, the military was still negotiating with the suicide bomber for their release.
At the same time the attack occurred, more than 150 miles northeast of Agadez, a different group of suicide bombers slipped past a truck entering a uranium mine operated by French nuclear giant Areva. The car exploded once inside the campus, injuring 14 employees of the French company, one of whom died later, according to a statement by the French corporation and witnesses. Two suicide bombers also were killed, the ministry of defense said.
In January when France scrambled warplanes over Mali and sent in thousands of ground troops to try to take back the country’s al-Qaidaheld north, the extremistsvowed to hit back not just at French interests but also at the African governments that helped them.
The bomb blasts Thursday were the most damaging attacks by the Mali-based jihadists to date, and succeeded in hitting both an important French asset and the military of Niger, which sent 650 troops to Mali to help France combat the Islamists.
Niger produces up to 40percent of France’s uranium imports - a considerable amount as the European country derives 80 percent of its energy from nuclear power, according to an analysis released Thursday by global intelligence unit, Stratfor.
French President Francois Hollande said during a visit to Germany that he will take every measure to protect French assets.
“We will also protect ourinterests, because Arlit is an interest of a large French company: Areva. May everyone understand it well - that we will not let anything happen, and will support the Nigeriens’ efforts to halt this hostage-taking and destroy the group behind these attacks.” Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton, Jamey Keaten and Sarah DiLorenzo of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 05/24/2013