Two members of Algeria’s security services were killed and five injured when a mine went off as an army patrol passed by, newspapers said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred in the Msila region, 245km south of the capital, Algiers, the report said.
It was the latest in a series of attacks that have taken the lives of at least 28 people since the beginning of the month, including a firefight that killed four members of the security forces on Friday in the Skidda region 500km east of Algiers.
The press has attributed the violence to the radical Islamist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which is reputed close to al-Qaeda and is opposed to President Abdelaziz’s proposed charter for peace and reconciliation, which will be put to a referendum on September 29.
The charter would end legal proceedings against Islamic extremists ”who have already halted their armed activity and surrendered to the authorities” but exclude ”those involved in mass massacres, rapes and bomb attacks in public places”.
The charter is aimed at finally ending an Islamic insurgency that began in 1992 when the army cancelled an election that an Islamic party was poised to win, and which has taken about 150 000 lives. – Sapa-AFP