Algiers, Sept 27: The Algerian army killed 150 armed Islamic militants during a two-week roundup and assault in the north African country's eastern foothills, news reports said today. The charred bodies of 105 suspected rebels were found in caves near the Babor Mountains, about 300 kilometres east of Algiers, where they had fled during an intense bombing raid by the army, daily El Watan reported, without specifying sources. A team of experts from the neighbouring city of Constantine was deployed to the area to carry out a DNA analysis of the victims, the newspaper report said. Arabic newspaper El Youm reported that about 20 suspected Islamic militants and some 25 women remained holed up in the caves. The militants had come to the rugged region, where access is difficult, for a meeting, the report said. El Watan also reported that five women and eight children were freed late Wednesday and early Friday. One of the women reportedly said the militants were running out of food, water and munitions. The military backed-government is trying to root out insurgency that started in the early 1990s. Officials offered rebels partial amnesty if they turned in their guns, but those who did not surrender have faced an army crackdown.
About 120,000 people have died in the insurgency. The violence erupted in 1992 when the army cancelled legislative elections that a fundamentalist party was poised to win.
Bureau report