Algiers: Three Algerian soldiers
were killed when their truck was ambushed by suspected Islamic
militants armed with a remote-control explosive device, police
in the North African nation said on Saturday.
Five other soldiers were seriously wounded late Thursday
in the bombing in Baghlia, about 60 kilometres east of the
capital, police said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Most
attacks in Algeria are claimed by al-Qaeda in Islamic North
Africa, a local Islamic insurgency movement that joined Osama
bin Laden`s terrorist network in 2006.
The soldiers were returning by truck to their barracks in
the mountainous region when the bombers struck, setting off a
makeshift explosive device they had planted in the road.
Algeria`s conflict began in 1992 after the army cancelled
the second round of the country`s first-ever multi-party
elections, stepping in to prevent likely victory by the
fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front.
Islamist armed groups turned to force to overthrow the
government, and up to 200,000 people were killed in the
violence that ensued.
PTI