THIRTY people, mostly women and children, were killed over-night by "a group of terrorists" in this community south-west of Algiers, the Algerian security services said yesterday.
News of the massacre coincided with the official start of campaigning for June 5th legislative elections in the North African state the first since war broke out with Islamic extremists five years ago.
"Seventeen children, including two babies, and seven women were among the victims," the security services said in a statement, which described the killings as "cowardly".
The massacre happened on an isolated, run-down collective farm that dates back to French colonial times.
Some of the victims were shot dead; others had their throats slit, survivors said.
At least two women were burned alive.
"The attackers came around midnight," one said. "There were 40 or 50 of them."
A heavy silence hung over the site yesterday. Local farmers and their families, terrorised by what had happened, were preparing to leave with their few belongings.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Algeria since 1992, when armed conflict with Islamic extremists erupted after the military annulled a legislative election, that the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front was likely to win.
Since April, the death toll from bombings and village attacks has surpassed 450, according to western estimates.
Chebli, in the heart of the Mitidja farming plains, has witnessed several brutal massacres in recent months.
News of the latest killings came as the Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Ouyahia, was launching his election campaign in the Casbah district of Algiers.
The outlawed Armed Islamic Group, which is blamed for many acts of violence in Algeria, is known to operate in the Casbah, one of the oldest districts of the capital.
Most other political parties are ignoring pleas from Islamic Salvation Front members in exile abroad for a boycott.
Despite an upsurge in pre-election violence, the authorities have insisted that the election - to be overseen by some 200 foreign monitors - will proceed.
On Tuesday, at least 11 armed extremists were killed when Algerian security forces shelled positions held by Islamic groups in the north-western Saida region.