Fifty-six people have been killed in Algeria in two separate attacks authorities are blaming on Islamic militants.
Thirteen members of two families were killed overnight in an isolated village near the city of Blida, 30 miles south of Algiers, security services said today. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA), were blamed for the attack.
Also late last night, suspected Islamic militants ambushed and bombed a military and civil defense convoy in the Aures mountain range, 265 miles southeast of Algiers, the daily Le Matinnewspaper reports.
An unspecified number of assailants set off bombs using of acetylene-filled bottles as the convoy passed by the village of Teniet El-Abed, near the city of Batna, the paper said.
The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, has been bl;amed for killing 43 and injuring 19 members of the security forces in the attack.
Government and hospital officials have not yet confirmed the attack nor given an official toll of the dead and wounded.
The ambush is the worst against security services since a December 17th attack left 10 security forces dead at Sidi Medjaded near Miliana.
Islamist militant groups have been waging a campaign against Algeria's secular regime since 1992, when the army cancelled the second round of a general election that a fundamentalist party looked set to win.
Between 100,000 and 150,000 people have been killed since, according to official, opposition and media estimates.
Most of the victims have been civilians killed in massacres, bomb attacks and raids on isolated communities.
AFP