Niger has admitted that the army killed seven Tuareg civilians at the weekend. Niger's defence minister said the civilians were caught in a firefight between the army and rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice.
A statement on state radio said the incident occurred on Sunday in the region of Tiguidit, some 80km from the regional capital Agadez.
The government said it was "an accident", but the MNJ says the civilians were deliberately executed.
The Reuters news agency says two of those killed were well-known Tuareg traders, named as Sidi Amar and Ousmane Sidi.
The Defence Ministry statement said the civilians were in four vehicles which got caught in the middle of the skirmish.
It said one MNJ fighter was also killed, and one army soldier injured.
 The ethnic Tuareg of Niger say they are marginalised |
The MNJ website accused the army of having "very coldly assassinated" the seven people and denied any skirmish with the army in the area over the weekend.
The MNJ has killed at least 49 soldiers over the past 10 months as part of its campaign for greater autonomy for the Tuareg minority in Niger's uranium-rich north.
State radio also announced that two people were killed in landmine explosions near the economic capital, Maradi, in the past two days in what it said was a new "urban campaign" by the rebels.
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