A suicide truck bomb has killed at
least eight people and wounded 30 near
an Algerian military barracks
southeast of the capital.
The al-Qaeda Organisation in the
Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility
for the attack on Wednesday in the
town of Lakhdaria, about 120km
southeast of Algiers in the region of
Kabylie.
Most of the injured were reported to
be working at the barracks.
Another bomb exploded close to a group
of gendarmes on patrol near the
village of Tigzirt in the same region
later on Wednesday, killing one and
injuring another, local residents
said.
The group claiming responsibility,
formerly known as the Salafist Group
for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), was
behind similar attacks in recent
months, including a triple suicide
bombing in Algiers that killed 33
people on April 11.
In an audio tape, a spokesman for the
armed group said: "Our martyr was
able to enter into the heart of the
[barracks] and set off the explosion
there."
The spokesman named the attacker as
Suhail Abu Malih and said more than
one tonne of explosives were used.
The owner of a coffee shop in
Lakhdaria said: "I heard a
terrible explosion. I first thought it
was an earthquake but soon I found out
it was an attack against the
barracks."
Games marred
The bombing came on the same day as
the opening of the Africa Games, one
of the continent's biggest sporting
events, which is taking place in
Algiers and also in Blida and
Boumerdes, two towns in Kabylie.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Algerian
president, asked the army in early
July to step up attacks on armed
groups, saying they were "enemies
of the people".
Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, the
interior minister, told Algerian radio
that the blast had caused a number of
casualities.
He also said: "This attack will
not prevent us from continuing our
relentless fight against
terrorism."
Anis Rahmani, a security expert, said
the attack, which occurred three
months to the day after the April 11
blasts, appeared to show that al-Qaeda
was now firmly set on using suicide
bombers in the Muslim country.
He said: "The suicide attack was
expected, particularly after the
security services succeeded in
preventing any [suicide attacks] in
the intervening 90 days."
The April 11 blasts were the first
intended suicide bomb attacks since
violence began in Algeria in 1992,
journalists say.
Up to 200,000 people have been killed
in political bloodshed in Algeria
since 1992 when supporters of a
now-outlawed party that was poised to
win elections that year subsequently
launched an armed rebellion against
the state.
The violence has subsided in recent
years but sputters on mainly in
Kabylie and nearby areas.