ALGIERS, July 17, 2013 (AFP)
ALGIERS, July 17, 2013 (AFP)
Four Algerian soldiers were killed when two bombs struck their passing patrol in the region of Tipaza, west of the capital Algiers, media reports said Wednesday, adding the attack wounded another three troops.
The Tuesday attack appeared to have been pre-planned but coincided with the return home of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from Paris after a stay of nearly three months in hospital.
The attack occurred when the bombs, buried underground, struck the army patrol as it entered the wooded area of Damous near Tipaza, 70 kilometres (44 miles) from Algiers during a routine operation, the reports said.
The Tuesday attack appeared to have been pre-planned but coincided with the return home of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika from Paris after a stay of nearly three months in hospital.
The attack occurred when the bombs, buried underground, struck the army patrol as it entered the wooded area of Damous near Tipaza, 70 kilometres (44 miles) from Algiers during a routine operation, the reports said.
The deadliest attack took place in January when 37 foreign and Algerian hostages were killed in clashes with Islamist militants who had seized a gas complex.
In 1990s Algeria witnessed a decade of fighting between troops and Islamist fighters in which some 200,000 people were killed, official estimates say.
