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| Algeria suicide bomb 'kills 15' | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| At least 15 people have been killed and scores injured in a suicide bombing in Algeria, local security sources said. | |
| The attack happened in the town of Batna, about 450km (279 miles) east of the capital, Algiers. | The attack happened in the town of Batna, about 450km (279 miles) east of the capital, Algiers. |
| Witnesses said the attack apparently targeted crowds awaiting an expected visit to the town by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. | Witnesses said the attack apparently targeted crowds awaiting an expected visit to the town by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. |
| However, the bomb went off before the president was scheduled to arrive and he was not involved. | However, the bomb went off before the president was scheduled to arrive and he was not involved. |
| Hospital visit | Hospital visit |
| There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. | There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. |
| But Mr Bouteflika accused Islamist militants of trying to disrupt his policy of national reconciliation, which is aimed at ending 15 years of fighting between the army and groups trying to set up an Islamic state. | But Mr Bouteflika accused Islamist militants of trying to disrupt his policy of national reconciliation, which is aimed at ending 15 years of fighting between the army and groups trying to set up an Islamic state. |
| "Terrorist acts have absolutely nothing in common with the noble values of Islam," the official APS news agency quoted him as saying. | "Terrorist acts have absolutely nothing in common with the noble values of Islam," the official APS news agency quoted him as saying. |
| Mr Bouteflika later visited some of the wounded in a local hospital, APS said. | Mr Bouteflika later visited some of the wounded in a local hospital, APS said. |
| In April two blasts in Algiers killed at least 23 people and injured 160 - one bomb exploding near the prime minister's office. | In April two blasts in Algiers killed at least 23 people and injured 160 - one bomb exploding near the prime minister's office. |
| A group claiming to represent al-Qaeda in North Africa claimed responsibility for those bombings. | A group claiming to represent al-Qaeda in North Africa claimed responsibility for those bombings. |
| Conflict broke out in Algeria in 1992 after a general election won by an Islamist party was annulled, resulting in a bloody civil war in which more than 150,000 people died. | |
| Insecurity has been increasing in Algeria, and across North Africa, since the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) re-launched itself as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb at the beginning of this year. |