3 soldiers killed in Mauritania

Three soldiers were killed Thursday by unknown assailants in Mauritania's northern desert, a military official said.

The attack followed the Christmas Eve slaying of four French tourists who were picnicking by the roadside near Aleg, a small town 150 miles east of Nouakchott. The government blamed the murders on a terrorist "sleeper cell" affiliated with al-Qaida.

The back-to-back killings are unusual in the desert nation, a moderate Islamic republic situated on the western edge of the Sahara desert that has been relatively free of violence.

The three soldiers were gunned down near the town of Ghallawiya, around 430 miles north of Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, said Lt. Col. Mohamed Lemine Ould Taleb, a military spokesman.

The gunmen arrived in two trucks and opened fire on the soldiers manning a checkpoint at the entrance to a military base, said Taleb. They seized a military vehicle equipped with a machine gun and fled, he said.

"For the moment, we don't know who committed the attack," said Taleb. "The army has launched an investigation to find the assailants."