NIAMEY: Nine Nigerien soldiers died in an ambush against a regional prefect's motorcade near the country's border with Burkina Faso, a local official said Thursday.

Based on the number of bodies recovered, the toll was an increase on the six killed and three wounded reported on Wednesday by the governor of Tillaberi province in western Niger.

The attack by suspected militants on the convoy transporting the Bankilare district prefect was the first against government officials in Tillaberi.