Islamic State group Sahara offshoot claims responsibility for 2017 Niger attack on US

An Islamic State group Sahara offshoot claimed it carried out the October attack in Niger that killed four US soldiers and four Nigerien troops.

The Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency reported on Friday that the self-professed IS affiliate Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi claimed responsibility for the October 4 attack about 200 kilometres north of Niger's capital, Niamey.

The news agency has carried messages from the affiliate before, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist websites.

The news agency says the extremists also claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday on a French military convoy, and for a series of attacks in Niger and border areas with Mali and Burkina Faso.