News

16-03-2009

Islamists kill five people in Algeria

AFP - Algiers — Armed Islamists killed five people in northeastern Algeria over the weekend, newspapers said Monday although officials did not confirm the reports.
Islamists cut the throat of a shepherd and 300 of his sheep in Chatabia village near the Tunisian border Saturday night, newspapers reported.
Three family members and an elected official died in a bomb explosion the following morning as they headed to the site of the killing.
In February, Islamists killed seven people in the Tebessa region where the village is located, some 630 kilometres (390 miles) southeast of the capital, Algiers.
Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni warned Sunday extremists may stage spectacular attacks ahead of the April 9 presidential election.
But while he acknowledged several terror groups were still active in the country, he said the persistent strikes "don't signify an aggravation of the situation."
"On the contrary, we are convinced, based on the figures we have, that the groups are in difficulty right now," he said.
Some 150,000 people died in the country's 1990s civil conflict, pitting Islamist militants against the military-backed government.