Zinder Region

AFP - At least 36 people have died in flooding in Niger since the start of the rainy season in June, most of them in northern desert areas, UN figures showed Tuesday.

Over that period, the floods have affected a total of 130,468 people, destroying 7,212 homes, 8,162 hectares of crops and 31,118 head of cattle, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Several dozen people suspected of having links to Nigeria's Boko Haram have been arrested in southern Niger since the start of cross-border attacks by the Islamist group a week ago, a local governor said.