/ 1 January 2002

Armed gangs kill nine in Algeria

Armed groups killed nine people, six of them members of one family, in separate weekend attacks in Algeria, the official APS news agency said on Sunday.

The gunmen who killed two women and four children in Oued El Kerma, 120 kilometres west of the capital, Algiers, on Saturday also planned to attack other families but fled after local militiamen were alerted. Two other people were injured in the shooting.

Three young campers were also killed the same night in a beach hut at Bouharoun, 40 kilometres west of Algiers, APS said.

It attributed both attacks to armed Islamic groups.

An estimated 120 000 people have been killed in the North African nation since an Islamic insurgency started a decade ago.

The violence broke out after the army aborted legislative elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win. Militants have been trying to topple the military-backed government. – Sapa-AP