Algeria hit by surge in guerrilla violence

[Al-khiyal]

The South African government has expressed sadness, shock and outrage at the spate of bombings in Algeria, the department of foreign affairs said.

"In this regard, the government strongly condemns this callous and cowardly act and extends its heartfelt condolences to the government and the people of Algeria," the statement said.

French news agency AFP reported that bomb blasts in the Algerian capital killed 30 people and injured 162. The civil defence agency warned that the casualty figure could increase.

The agency told AFP that an explosion at the government headquarters left 12 dead and 118 injured, while 11 people were killed and 44 wounded in an almost simultaneous attack near a police station in an eastern suburb.

South Africa shocked over Algeria bomb blasts

[Al-khiyal]

Police stand around the wreckage of one of the cars which exploded at Bab Ezzouar, April 11, 2007

[Al-khiyal]

CASABLANCA - Morocco's Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa Wednesday ruled out any connection between a rash of suicide bombings in the Algerian capital and the Moroccan port city of Casablanca.

"No links have been established between the explosions of March 11 and April 10 in Casablanca and the bombings in Alger," Benmoussa told a news conference in Casablanca.

"We have found no logistical or structural elements to prove a link with the bombings at Alger but we do not rule out a movement espousing jihad (Islamic holy war) and terrorism," he said.

He said "even the timing of the blasts" in the two countries were not linked as the Moroccan bombings were sparked by a police raid which prompted the militants to blow themselves up.

Two suicide car bomb attacks claimed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate rocked the Algerian capital, including the prime minister's office, on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 160.

The bombings came on the heels of kamikaze blasts in neighbouring Morocco.

Three suspected militants blew themselves on Tuesday as they were being chased in Casablanca. All were wanted in connection with a March 11 bombing at a Casablanca Internet cafe staged by another suspected militant.

Moroccan blasts not linked to Algiers' bombings: Minister

[Al-khiyal]

Just a day after police raids resulted in multiple explosions in neighbouring Morocco, two bombings rocked the Algerian capital of Algiers. As many as four vehicles rigged with explosives exploded in the city just moments apart, shortly before noon Wednesday (April 11th), leaving dozens dead.

The first bomb targeted a government building in downtown Algiers, and the others a police station in Bab Ezzouar, a neighbourhood east of the capital near the international airport. In a preliminary report, security officials announced a death toll of 30, with as many as 110 injured.

In central Algiers, a car bomb exploded near the offices of Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, killing many police officers and passers-by, and injuring dozens of others. Windows of neighbouring buildings and vehicles parked on the street were shattered by the blast, spraying the area with glass and other debris out to 200 metres. The shredded bodies of victims littered the sidewalks as the first ambulances began to arrive.

The Bab Ezzouar bomb severely damaged a police station and destroyed a power station belonging to electric company Sonelagaz.

The two attacks were nearly simultaneous, occurring at approximately 10:45 local time.

At midday, glass and other debris from the attack still covered the scene in central Algiers, radiating out from the entrance of the massive government building which also houses the interior ministry. One eyewitness said a thick cloud of black smoke billowed out from the site of the violent explosion, and the façade of the Government Palace had buckled outward from the damage.

Upon visiting the site, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem condemned the attacks as "criminal and cowardly, perpetrated at a time when the Algerian people seek national reconciliation".

Abdelkrim Dahmane, a representative of the Society of Peace Movement (MSP), an Islamist party in parliament, spoke out against the attacks in an interview with al-Jazeera, putting them in the same category as the explosions in Casablanca the previous day.

A representative of Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), claimed responsibility for the bombings in a call to al-Jazeera.

The attack is the worst of its kind Algiers has seen in years. Area resident Yasmina Kabli, walked past the Government Palace just moments before the explosion, and felt the attacks signalled a return to the dark days in Algiers, when bombs routinely interrupted the city's daily life.

Algeria will hold legislative elections on May 17th, and many fear the attacks represent a push by Islamist militants to disrupt the democratic process.

The two attacks came just days after a fierce exchange between the army and an Islamist group on Saturday evening near Ain Defla, west of Algiers, during which nine soldiers were killed. The army is also in the third week of a large-scale cordon and search operation against militants in Bejaia, in the Kabylia region east of the capital.

Deadly explosions rock Algerian capital

[Al-khiyal]

Tehran, April 11, IRNA -- IRI Foreign Ministry Spokesman here Wednesday evening condemned terrorist blasts in Algiers, calling them "an inhumane, disgusting move."

Mohammad-Ali Hosseini further reiterated, "The inhumane move that claimed the lives of a number of Algerians and wounded some others are quite contrary with our Islamic beliefs, and with the rules of humanity."

Wednesday's bomb blasts in Algerian capital, Algiers claimed the lives of 23 innocent Algerian civilians and wounded 162 others.

Two strong car bombs' explosions, one at the parking lot of Prime Minister's Palace and the other one in front of a police station at city's Baab ul-Zowwar District shattered the Algerian capital on Wednesday afternoon.

The Ad-Da'wa wal-Jihad Salafi group, which announced its merging with the international terror organization Al-Qaeda, and changed its name to 'Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maqreb' has claimed responsibility for the terror attacks by issuing a communiqué.

The terrorist group has also published the photographs of the three suicidal attackers who lost their lives in the brutal attacks.

Iran condemns terrorist blasts in Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, April 11 (UPI) -- Algeria's Muslim Brotherhood movement denounced Wednesday's dual bombings in Algeria, distancing itself from extremist Islamic groups that may be responsible.

Abu Jarra Sultani, the head of the country's Movement for the Society of Peace, the official name of the Muslim Brotherhood, said his organization "strongly condemns this terrorist act." Two massive explosions targeted the prime minister's office and a police station, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 100 others. The prime minister was not hurt.

The Qatar-based al-Jazeera news channel said al-Qaida in al-Maghreb (North Africa) claimed responsibility in a telephone call to the station. The claim was not independently verified.

Sultani, a Cabinet minister, told reporters his organization, which is registered as a legitimate political group with representatives in Parliament, "strongly denounces any terrorist act regardless of the justifications and perpetrators." He affirmed the MSP "advocates dialogue, democracy, justice and equality."

Sultani's denunciation of the attack was yet another attempt to distance his Islamic organization from extremist violent groups whose rebellion against the government in the 1990s killed over 200,000 people. Wednesday's attack in the North African country comes after a series of smaller ones in recent months, threatening a resurgence of Islamic violence in which the Muslim Brotherhood wants no links.

Algeria's Muslim Brothers denounce attack

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, April 11 (KUNA) -- Algerian security forces dismantled a booby-trapped car in upper Algiers Wednesday, official media reported.

The car was loaded with 500 kilograms of explosives, reported the media.

The dismantling of the car followed two explosions that rocked the Algerian capital killing 24 people and injuring 222 others.

Algerian forces dismantle booby-trapped car