Niger prison clash blamed on extremist escape attempt

Members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram tried to escape from the central prison in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on Saturday afternoon and killed two guards, according to an official.

Niger prosecutor Ibrahim Waziri said that three prisoners from the radical Islamic group of Nigeria managed to grab a gun and killed two prison guards and injured three others in their attempt to break out of the prison. Three prisoners were captured.

The attempted prison break attack came less than a week Niger was rocked by a double suicide bombing by Islamic radicals in the towns fo Agadez and Arlit in which 35 were killed, including the attackers.