Niamey (AFP) - Protesters angered by Charlie Hebdo's latest Prophet Mohammed cartoon set fire Friday to the French cultural centre and three churches in Zinder, Niger's second biggest city, the head of the centre said.

A crowd of around 50 people smashed the French centre's entrance door and set fire to the cafeteria, library and offices in spite of warning shots fired by two police guards, director Kaoumi Bawa told AFP.

A Catholic church and two Protestant churches were ransacked, authorities in Zinder, which is in the south of the country near the border with Nigeria.

"We've never seen that in living memory in Zinder," an administration official said. "It's a black Friday."

Amadou Mamane, a journalist in Zinder, described "a human wave took out its anger on the streets of Zinder to protest against the caricature of Mohammed. They were mostly youths."