Algiers - Eleven people, including seven members of the Algerian security forces, were killed yesterday near Batna, some 430 km south-east of the capital, Algiers, the security services said.
The security personnel were killed in a fire-fight after going to the scene of a roadside murder of four civilians, witnesses said. They reported that an armed gang numbering around 15 set up a roadblock on the road linking Batna with Merouana. They stopped and ransacked several vehicles before killing four occupants of a van transporting sheep. The security forces were shot and killed by bombs set on the road.