SUSPECTED Muslim guerrillas massacred a whole family by backing off the heads of its nine members in a night raid at a hamlet south of Algiers, Algerian newspapers said yesterday.
The assailants stormed Benchicao village, 10 km from Medea, a Muslim guerrilla stronghold, and broke into the family home, killing the nine people, Al Kliabar and El Watan newspapers said.
Four days ago, Muslim rebels decapitated 31 people in Medea, 70 km south of the Algerian capital, according to El Watan.
Algerian newspapers have suggested that some of the massacre had targeted families of former rebels who broke away from guerrilla groups and gave themselves up to the authorities following a partial amnesty.
Algerian security forces killed 25 Muslim guerrillas last week in Chief province, 175 km west of Algiers, and smashed a 19 member group of the Algerian Jihad Islamic Front (FIDA) this week, Al Khabar newspaper said.
The latest killings brought to more than 300 the number of people killed during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which started n January 10th. About 60,000 people have died in violence since early 1992.
Algeria yesterday imposed a traffic ban in the streets of Algiers to try to thwart car bomb attacks blamed by the authorities on Muslim fundamentalists.
The 12 hour daily ban, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., is seen as the first move in a long awaited strategy to counter the rash of bombings, mostly in Algiers, and massacres in isolated hamlets just outside.
More than 70 people have been killed by bombs in Algiers and nearby Blida and Boufarik, in the past three weeks.
The ban covers 37 main avenues and seven squares, including Colonel Amirouche Boulevard where a car bomb killed more than 40 people and wounded 300 wounded in January 1995.
In the capital, many of the three million residents welcomed the attempt to end the fear caused by bomb attacks.
"Walking in the streets near parked cars chilled you to the bone, as most stationary vehicles were feared as lethal things," said one resident.
Other residents also said they welcomed the rules.
Most workers either cram into communal taxis or commute on trains and city buses, which have long been a nightmare form of travel, packed with people and often breaking down through overloading.
Many of the half million cars which used to ply the streets daily converge on the capital from the country's 47 provinces as Algerians come to shop or sort out administrative problems and bureaucracy.