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AU condemns suicide attacks in Niger

24 May 2013 02:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The African Union (AU) on Thursday condemned the suicide attacks in Arlit and Agadez in Niger, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

In a statement AU announced that Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission has strongly condemned the two suicide attacks that took place Thursday's morning in Arlit and Agadez in Niger.

The Chairperson expressed AU's full support to the Niger authorities' resolute efforts in the fight against terrorism.

She also reiterated the AU's deep appreciation for Niger's contribution to the deployment and operations of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA).

Dlamini-Zuma stressed that the terrorist aggression against Niger highlights the need for sustained efforts by all African States to combat the scourge of terrorism and transnational organized crime.

In this regard, she reiterated the AU's commitment to support the countries of the region, especially in the context of the follow-up to the conclusions of the ministerial meeting on enhancing security cooperation and operationalizing the African Peace and Security Architecture in the Sahelo-Saharan region, held in Nouakchott on 17 March 2013, and those of the regular meetings of the Heads of Security and Intelligence Services of the countries of the region, the first of which took place in Bamako on 18 April 2013, said the statement.

The Chairperson stressed that terrorism and cross-border organized crime are serious threats to peace and security in Africa as well as in the rest of the international community, and called for increased engagement to overcome these challenges.