Several soldiers were killed on Tuesday in an attack in the restive Casamance region of southern Senegal blamed on separatist rebels, military and political sources told Agence France Presse.

"We have lost some soldiers and some have been reported missing," a military source said after a local official reported an attack in the village of Kabeumeu near the border with Gambia.

A U.S. diplomat has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after allegedly beating his wife while they lived in Dakar, Senegal, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The indictment against Michael Makalou, 40, was handed down Wednesday by a grand jury in Virginia. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Faidherbe bridge, a century-old emblem of Senegal's former colonial riverside capital Saint-Louis, is being fully restored after threatening to collapse into the Senegal River.

Its seven majestic arches once again firmly straddle the river, providing a key link between the mainland and the island city which was founded in 1659 and became the first French settlement in sub-Saharan Africa.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade on Friday opened the capital city's national Grand Theatre, an imposing building constructed by the public Chinese company Complant, near the capital's station.

Wade thanked China "for this majestic jewel" which cost 16 billion CFA francs (24 million euros/34.6 million dollars) and hailed the "dynamics, pragmatism and efficiency" marking the two countries' cooperation.

Senegal has cut diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing it of delivering weapons to separatist rebels in its restive southern Casamance region where 16 soldiers have been killed since the end of December.

A cache of Iranian weapons concealed as building material intercepted in Nigeria in October 2010, was found to be one of several shipments passing through Gambia and destined for the Casamance rebel movement.

A former soldier set himself on fire in front of the presidency in Senegal's capital on Friday and was taken to hospital in serious condition, police and witnesses told Agence France Presse.

"I saw a man who had a bottle in his hand and a lighter. He set himself on fire after pouring the contents of the bottle over his body and was evacuated to the hospital," said a witness, adding the man had been dressed in khaki-colored clothing.