MIGRANTS FOUND DEAD IN SAHARA DESERT

Niger says the bodies of 34 migrants , including 20 children and two Nigerians , have been found in the Sahara Desert near the border with Algeria
. A government statement said they were found near the small desert town of Assamakka . Interior Minister Bazoum Mohammed said it appeared they had died of thirst after being abandoned by their smuggler . Niger lies on a major migrant route between sub- Saharan Africa and Europe . Mohammed said nine of the adults were women and five were men . He said members of the group had died between 6 and 12 June . Two victims have been identified as Nigerian but the nationalities of the others are not yet clear, reports the BBC . The International Organisation for Migration (IOM ) says about 120,000 people crossed through Niger ’s arid northern Agadez region last year . Thousands of illegal migrants have travelled to Algeria in recent years, most of them via Mali and Niger. People smugglers have largely avoided Libya since it descended into political chaos.