Niamey - Seven Niger soldiers were killed and eight others wounded in two separate attacks by Boko Haram Islamists over the past week, the army has said.

Diffa - Outside the Diffa grand mosque in Niger's southeast, two soldiers stand at the ready, rifles pointed at the wave of worshippers walking towards them.Unbidden, the men raise their "boubous", the traditional wide-sleeved robes worn across West Africa.

Niamey - The bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, who were abandoned by people smugglers while trying to reach neighbouring Algeria were found in the Niger desert last week, authorities said.

Niamey - About 50,000 people have fled a town in Niger's troubled southeast after deadly attacks by Boko Haram insurgents, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Niamey - Thirty-two troops have been killed in a clash with Boko Haram fighters on Niger's border with Nigeria, Niger's defence ministry said on Saturday, one of deadliest tolls inflicted by the jihadists.

Niamey - "Take us away from this hell," said Boussam, a mother of seven cradling skeletal goats in Niger's Assaga camp, where thousands of desperate refugees fleeing Boko Haram Islamist insurgents are living in hunger.

Niamey - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, reelected for a second term during controversial weekend elections, on Wednesday proposed forming a national unity government with the opposition which boycotted the vote.

Niamey - Voters in Niger cast ballots in the country's first-ever presidential run-off Sunday, with incumbent Mahamadou Issoufou on track for a second term as the opposition observed a boycott.

Niamey - With the main challenger airlifted from jail to a Paris hospital and an opposition boycott, President Mahamadou Issoufou seems certain to win re-election on Sunday in Niger, one of the world's poorest countries.

Niamey - Two separate Islamist attacks killed three policemen and a soldier in Niger, an official said, just days before the impoverished west African nation votes in the second round of presidential elections.

Niamey - Niamey's dusty racing track is a far cry from the nation's equine glory days when horses bred in the country enjoyed international fame.

Niamey - Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou took a solid lead Friday in the uranium-rich nation's presidential election but will face an unprecedented run-off against jailed opposition leader Hama Amadou on March 20.

Niamey - Increasingly targeted by jihadist fighters roaming its remote northern desert, and Nigeria's feared Boko Haram insurgents on its southern flank, Niger fears the emergence of its own brand of home-grown Islamist trouble.

Niamey - Voters in Niger went to the polls Sunday in a presidential election in which the incumbent has promised a "knockout" blow to the opposition, one of whose top candidates is behind bars on baby-trafficking charges.

Suffice it to say, if this beast was in the water, you'd want to be out of the water. What is this creature? It is the largest sea-dwelling crocodile that has ever been discovered, growing to over 30 feet long and weighing three tons.

Niamey - Niger's government has "foiled" a coup plot, resulting in a number of arrests, President Mahamadou Issoufou said in an address broadcast on national radio and television Thursday, adding that the situation was "under control".

Niamey - When yet another drought wiped out his flock five years ago, Toro, a Fulani shepherd in Niger, decided to migrate to the capital Niamey, where he found work selling cell phones instead.

Niamey - In a shed at the heart of the Assaga refugee camp in southeast Niger, around 50 children sing and dance, masking the deep emotional trauma inflicted on them by Boko Haram.

Niamey - Fifteen civilians were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants on a border village in southeastern Niger, state television reported, the latest deadly raid by the Islamist group.

Diffa - Thousands of Nigerian refugees who fled to southeast Niger to escape the Islamist group Boko Haram are in an "atrocious" situation, the United Nations says.