Algiers: Islamist extremists attacked an
army post and killed at least 13 soldiers watching the
Algerian president`s televised speech promising reforms,
security officials said on Saturday.
Two militants in the group were killed by soldiers at
the post in Kabyle, some 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of
Algiers, the officials said.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because they
weren`t authorised to speak to the press.
Today, security forces swept areas including the
Yakourene forest, a hideout of al-Qaida in the Islamic
Maghreb, in a search for other suspects, the officials said.
It was the deadliest attack on security forces since
July 2009, when at least 14 soldiers were reported killed in
an ambush on a military convoy in Damous, near the northern
coastal city of Tipaza.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced
constitutional and electoral reforms Friday night "aimed at
deepening the democratic process" amid upheavals in
neighboring North African countries.
In February, he lifted a 19-year-old state of
emergency put in place at the start of a brutal Islamist
insurgency.
Bureau Report
