TWELVE people died and 14 were injured in an attack by Islamic extremists on a bus according to reports yesterday.
The massacre on Saturday at Keddara, 50 km southeast of Algiers, was one of the worst acts of violence this year in Algeria where the government and armed Islamic groups continue a virtual civil war in which up to 50,000 people have died since the annulment of December 1991 elections.
The driver of the bus which was carrying employees of the state owned National Industrial Vehicles Corp, tried to break through a bogus checkpoint but was stopped by automatic weapons fire, a survivor told the daily Le Matin.
The attackers singled out five people by name before decapitating them with machetes. He said several bombs exploded killing seven people, including two villagers who ran to help after hearing shots.
More than 20 people have been killed since Thursday and about 100 others have been injured in bomb attacks by Islamic militants.
However, it is impossible to determine exact numbers due to government controls.
A new armed Islamic group, formed after a split in one of the most radical Muslim movements fighting the government, announced its creation yesterday and declared holy war.
The group calling itself the Islamic Movement for Spreading the Faith and Holy War is led by Mustapha Kertali, a former "emir" of the radical Armed Islamic Group (GIA).
The new group rejected any fond of negotiation with the regime in Algiers.