Suicide bomber takes cadets hostage

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

This undated file photo provided by French nuclear manufacturer Areva shows part of the uranium mine of Arlit, in northern Niger. Attackers in Niger detonated two car bombs at dawn on Thursday, May 23, 2013, one in the city of Agadez where a military barracks was targeted and one in Arlit where a French company operates a uranium mine, injuring more than a dozen people. Paris-based nuclear giant Areva said in a statement that 13 employees were hurt in the attack in Arlit, in the northern part of Niger where in 2010, al-Qaida's branch in Africa kidnapped five French citizens working for the mining company.(AP Photo/AREVA/HO).

Niger's interior minister says that a suicide attacker, who penetrated a military garrison in the city of Agadez, has taken several cadets hostage.

Minister of the Interior Abdou Labo said by telephone that the attacker is draped in an explosive belt and is threatening to blow himself up. He said authorities are negotiating with him.

The attacker survived the initial assault on the camp earlier Thursday, which killed 20 Niger army soldiers and three jihadists.

The car bombing in Agadez occurred at the same time as a suicide attack on a mine operated by French nuclear giant Areva in the Nigerien city of Arlit. Thirteen employees of the mine were injured. The al-Qaida spinoff, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack.