Officials have reported that four security forces have been attacked and killed by two separate Islamic terrorist factions in Niger.
Militants from both al-Qaeda and Boko Haram were said to be responsible for the separate attacks.
Three policemen were shot dead by suspected al-Qaeda members in a village near the border with Burkina Faso.
One soldier was killed and two others wounded when a military convoy was attacked close to Nigeria’s border by Boko Haram.
Thursday’s attacks came three days before Sunday’s controversial presidential run-off election.
The opposition has said they will not recognise the results of the vote, and their candidate Hama Amadou, is currently receiving medical treatment in Paris after spending moths in jail.
“The attackers were repelled, and we are currently sweeping the area,” he told the AFP news agency.
The other attack was carried out by four suicide bombers in southern Difa region that has often been targeted by Boko Haram insurgents.
A fifth suicide bomber, a young girl, was prevented from detonating her vest, Mr Massaoudou added.
Niger has porous borders with Libya and Algeria to the north, Mali and Burkina Faso to the west and Nigeria to the south – making it vulnerable to Islamist attacks.
The country is rated by the UN as one of the world’s least-developed nations and was recently named as the worst country to live in. Whether the attacks were coordinated is as of the minute unknown.
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