Algeria hit by surge in guerrilla violence

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There is a newsflash report from Kuwaiti press from one minute ago which consists only of the headline:

Fiery blast rocks Algerian capital

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Bomb kills one, wounds two in Algeria - residents

ALGIERS, May 16 (KUNA) -- Two bombs went off in the eastern city of Constantine on Wednesday wounding four people, police said.

Police sources said the two explosives, placed by terrorists at a public place in Sidi Mabrouk in the city, located 480 kilometers east of the capital, blew up simultaneously.

One of the wounded was reported to be in a critical condition.

Two explosions wound four people in Constantine - police

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ALGIERS (AFP) - Bombs killed a police officer and wounded five other people Wednesday on the eve of parliamentary elections in Algeria, prompting fears of renewed Islamist extremism.

The blasts, in Algeria's third-biggest city Constantine, came 48 hours after the North Africa branch of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network called upon Algerians to boycott Thursday's polls.

It was the most serious incident in an Algerian city since triple suicide bombings on April 11 in the capital Algiers, claimed by Al-Qaeda, claimed 30 lives and left 220 injured.

Two home-made bombs, hidden in plastic bags, went off Wednesday morning in the working-class Daksi district of Constantine - one near a cafe, the other in the centre of a traffic roundabout, a police source said.

It appeared that the bombs were meant to have been planted at a nearby market, before police intercepted a man who was carrying them.

According security officials, the man ditched the bags and took flight. But an eye witness said that one of the bombs went off in his hands, though it was unclear whether he was killed or injured.

Interior Minister Yazid Zaerhouni condemned the blasts as "an act of sabotage against the Algerian democratic system", and urged Algerians to go to the polls Thursday in big numbers "to show their attachment to democracy".

"The best way to respond to such attacks is a strong turnout for the parliamentary elections," he said on Algerian public radio.

Heightened security is expected for Thursday's elections for National People's Assembly, for which the interior ministry has ordered trucks to stay off the roads and markets to be closed.

In a recording aired this week by Al-Jazeera television, Al-Qaeda called on Algerians to snub the polls, which are expected to see political parties aligned with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika retain a majority.

"These elections are nothing but a farce that is not different from other farces seen before in Algeria," said Abu Mussaab Abdul Wadud, leader of Al-Qaeda in North Africa.

"If you take part in these elections, you will be sharing those apostates' flagrant act," he asserted in the audio tape recording that was aired by Al-Jazeera on Monday.

"Express your opinion and renounce these elections. You only need to boycott or abstain from voting."

Since the April 11 bombings, security forces have redoubled their campaigns against stubborn pockets of Islamist extremists in remote parts of oil- and gas-rich Algeria, diplomats say.

Bouteflika, 70, whose health has been the subject of much recent speculation, was Wednesday continuing a two-day visit to the Mediterranean port city of Annaba, near the border with Tunisia.

Zerhouni, the interior minister, travelling to Annaba on Tuesday with the president, told reporters that "we must be reassured by the results of the anti-terrorist struggle".

He added that Islamist extremism could not be allowed to impact on Bouteflika's policy of national reconciliation.

That policy has largely tamed an Islamist insurgency that cost an estimated 150,000 lives in the 1990s.

Overall, many politicians have been less concerned by terrorism than by a palpable lack of enthusiasm in the parliamentary elections among Algeria's 18.3 million registered voters, raising the spectre of a low turnout.

"Democracy cannot be created if one turns his back on the ballot box," Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem told AFP in Algiers. "Chosing between political parties and programmes is not just a civic act, but a way to deepen democracy."

The National People's Assembly, in which the venerable National Liberation Front (FLN) holds the most seats, is seen by Algerians as a largely toothless body, in a country where power is centralised in the presidency.

Bouteflika, first elected in 1999, is due to step down at the end of his current second term, but no-one is ruling out the prospect of a constitutional amendment to enable him to seek a third mandate in 2009.

Bombs kill one, injure five on eve of Algeria vote

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Un policier a été arrêté et 14 personnes ont été blessées, hier, dans le quartier Edaksi à Constantine, et des sources sûres ont indiqué que les deux bombes ont été activées par le biais d’un téléphone portable, alors que 28 étudiants qui se trouvaient dans le restaurent central de l’université Mentouri ont été blessés dans une bousculade lorsqu’ils tentaient de s’enfuir après une alerte à la bombe.

Hier matin, à 7 heures 45, l’explosion de deux bombes a secoué le quartier Edaksi, à 10 minutes d’intervalle, et a causé la mort d’un policier âgé de 33 ans, qui était chargé de la régulation de la circulation au carrefour, alors que trois agents de la sécurité en uniforme ont été blessés, dont un est encore sous contrôle médical au service des urgences chirurgicales de l’hôpital universitaire. On a également enregistré 11 citoyens blessés alors qu’ils passaient par le lieu de l’attentat, donc un est toujours sous contrôle médical.

Selon des sources sécuritaires, le but de l’intervalle entre les deux explosions était d’attendre la venue des renforts des agents de sécurité afin de provoquer un plus grand nombre de victimes, ce que les terroristes n’ont pas pu réussir.

Rappelons que l’incident est le premier du genre depuis la bombe qui a explosé à Constantine en 1996, et les groupes terroristes ne sont parvenus à effectuer aucune attaque depuis 1997, qu’il s’agisse d’explosions ou d’agressions.

Un policier tué et 14 blessés après l’explosion de deux bombes à Constantine

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Le juge d’instruction près le tribunal de N’Gaoues à Batna a ordonné la mise en détention provisoire de deux personnes, accusées de transport et de possession de dangereux explosifs. Par ailleurs, des agents de sécurité spécialisés ont désamorcé une bombe retrouvée dans la commune d’El Maâder à Batna.

Les services de la police judiciaire ont, avant-hier, arrêté deux personnes à bord d’une voiture « Renault 21 », près de la Rn n° 78 reliant la ville de N’Gaoues à Sétif.

Les services de sécurité, et après avoir fouillé cette voiture ont retrouvé des quantités d’explosifs, fabriqués à base de poudre noire, pesant 25kg, et dissimulées dans un sac en tissu, dans les sièges arrière de cette voiture. Ces deux accusés ont été renvoyés à la justice, et mis en détention provisoire suite à l’ordre du juge d’instruction.

Les services de sécurité ont également retrouvé une bombe artisanale, déposée près de la route des deux communes d’El Maâder et Boumia, que ces dernières pluies ont endommagé. Informés par les citoyens, les services de sécurité ont directement encerclé ce lieu et contacté une brigade spécialisée, qui a fait exploser cette bombe.

25 kg d’explosifs saisis et une bombe désamorcée à Batna

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Aftermath of one of the explosions at Constantine, May 16, 2007

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Un policier tué et 14 blessés après l’explosion de deux bombes à Constantine

The policeman who was killed in Wednesday’s attacks in Constantine (eastern Algeria) is called Abdelali Daara. He was taken to hospital and died there at around 10 a.m. About ten wounded people were taken to the hospital.

Later, 20 students were taken to the hospital. They were injured when trying to run away from the University of Constantine because of a false bomb warning.

An injured woman, 42, called Karima Kerraz said she saw the policeman when he was killed.

Two bombs exploded on Wednesday next to Diksi market in the region of Sidi Mebrouk in Constantine.

The first bomb blew up at around 8 a.m killing a 33-year-old policeman and injuring two of his colleagues. Eight minutes later, the second bomb exploded ten meters away from the site of the first explosion and injured seven people. Damages were recorded in a doctor’s office, houses, shops and administrative offices in addition to an ambulance.

According to security sources, the police have started leading an investigation to find out who perpetrated this act.

Eyewitnesses said they saw on Wednesday morning a black car parking for a short while in a forbidden place.

'Echorouk' visits the murdered policeman’s family

A reporter from Echorouk went on Wednesday to visit the killed policeman’s home which is located 200 meters away from the explosion place.

Abdelali Daara was a father-to-be who already had a 2-year-old baby. His older brother Azouz and some of his neighbours said Abdelali was a popular policeman who loved his job.

The dead policeman’s brother told Echorouk about what happened on Wednesday. He said eyewitnesses told him that they saw a suspicious man after the first explosion. This man was carrying a black bag and going to Diksi market. The policeman Abdelali Daara noticed him and tried to stop him but the bomber used a knife, wounded the policeman, put down the bomb and ran away. Then, the bomb exploded and killed the policeman.

Constantine bombings