| The army in Niger killed at least four members of a hardline Islamic militant group linked to al Qaeda in the Sahara desert earlier this month, military officials in the West African country said on Friday. "We had no loss of life among our soldiers, just a few light injuries. But we killed four Islamists and took four others prisoner," one official told Reuters. The clash with members of Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) -- classified by the United States as a "terrorist organisation" -- took place on April 17 near Tassara, not far from the border with Mali, the official said. The military sources in Niger said they believed the clash in their country had involved GSPC members who had come from Mali. They said the army had already pushed a group of GSPC fighters back over the border with Mali earlier this month. |