ALGIERS, January 25: Fresh attacks by suspected Islamist militants in Algeria have left 16 civilians dead, press reports said today.In the worst incident, 11 people, including a five-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman, were murdered overnight on Friday in the city of Sidi Bel Abbe, west of Algeria.
In Bougara, south of the capital, three people died and five were seriously injured after a bomb exploded in a local cafe. Another bomb in Algiers claimed the life of a 20-year-old woman, while a civilian was shot dead in the town of Sidi Daoud, east of the capital.
Massacres, bombings and murders blamed on Islamic extremists have raged on in Algeria since 1992 when the army cancelled elections which the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front was set to win.
Over 60,000 have died in the violence, according to Western estimates, although the government puts the toll at nearly 27,000.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
