/ 18 December 2000

40 DIE IN RAMADAN VIOLENCE

UP to 40 civilians have been killed in a wave of massacres across Algeria attributed to armed Islamists, in the latest bloody turn to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Fifteen travellers were killed west of the Algerian capital late on Sunday when an armed group opened fire on a bus. On Saturday at least 17 youths were murdered after Islamists stormed a dormitory. Since the start of the month of fasting, more than 200 people have died in violence in Algeria. – AFP