AT LEAST 14 people were killed and about 50 others injured yesterday when a bomb exploded at a crowded car market in northern Algeria. It was the latest in a series of bloody attacks blamed on Islamic radicals.
The blast occurred at about 9.00 a.m. (Irish time) in Boufarika, some 25km south of Algiers, while the market was at its busiest. The bomb was hidden in a basket filled with pieces of steel, nails and bolts.
Hours previously, the security forces had attacked an Islamic fundamentalist cell in the old quarter of Algiers, killing up to 12 people, sources there said.
There were scenes of despair at Boufarika hospital, as relatives waited for news of victims. "This country is ruined, there's nothing anyone can do," lamented one young woman.
No one immediately claimed responsibility but the town has previously been targeted by Islamic fundamentalists. Last September a car bomb left 27 people dead.
The town, which has organised its own vigilante groups, is located in the heart of the Mitidja valley, a hotbed of activity by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), the most radical of Algeria's fundamentalist parties.
Only the previous evening, President Zeroual had promised ministers that terrorism would be beaten "with determination".
Residents of Algiers' Casbah quarter said the overnight raid on an armed group holed up there had been accompanied by heavy fire until the early hours. Witnesses said between eight and 12 were killed in the assault.
No official toll was issued, and it was impossible to confirm whether the "emir" of the GIA in the Casbah, Farid Hamani - alias Abou Selmane - had been killed.
Selmane has been blamed for the wave of car-bombs in the capital since late December.