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Suicide bombers kill two, wound 11 in attack in Niger - U.N.

by Reuters
Friday, 30 June 2017 12:56 GMT

Women collect water at the Boudouri site for displaced persons outside the town of Diffa in southeastern Niger in this 2016 archive photo. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

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"The explosion killed two young inhabitants of the camp"

ABIDJAN, June 30 (Reuters) - Bombers killed two people and wounded 11 others at a U.N.-managed camp in Niger housing thousands of people who have fled Boko Haram violence in the first suicide attack in the region in a year, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.

Two women entered the camp in Kabelawa, around 50 km (30 miles) north of the border with Nigeria, and joined a group of young people before detonating suicide belts just before midnight on Wednesday.

"The explosion killed two young inhabitants of the camp, a male and a female, as well as the two women. 11 others were injured, two seriously," the UNHCR said in a statement.

Boko Haram launches frequent cross-border raids from its strongholds in northeastern Nigeria in its bid to carve out an Islamic caliphate, though most recent suicide attacks have targeted towns in northern Cameroon.

The group's eight-year insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.7 million.

There are over 166,000 refugees living in Niger, as well as 127,000 internally displaced Nigeriens.

(Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Alison Williams)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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