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Antar
Zouabri was killed by government forces in February 9, 2002
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ALGIERS,
March 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Algerian security forces killed 11
suspected members of a group in a so-called "anti-terrorism" sweep,
and 15 other people were found dead after two separate attacks in the troubled
North African nation, news agencies reported.
The
11 killed were suspected members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat
(GSPC), whose leader, Hassan Hattab, is on a list of people the United States
claims are top "terrorists" with ties to Al-Qaeda and wants dead or
captured, newspaper reports said. The GSPC is known to be active in eastern
Algeria, where the primary targets for its attacks are civilian defense units
and so-called patriots.
They
were killed in separate operations by armed forces near Setif, 185 miles east of
Algiers, and Djelfa, 170 miles southeast of the capital, the Algerian daily
newspaper, El Khabar reported Tuesday.
Separately,
15 community guards were killed in two attacks in northern Algeria, reports
said. The guards are civilians outfitted with arms by authorities.
On
Monday night, armed assailants lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons on a
barracks in Oum-Toub, near the city of Skikda on the Mediterranean coast, 310
miles east of Algiers, the daily newspapers, Le Matin and Liberte
reported Wednesday.
The
attackers stole dozens of automatic weapons and set the guards' camp on fire,
reports said. Twelve were killed and 30 escaped the assault, they said.
In
the village of Si Mustapha, 30 miles east of Algiers, three unarmed community
guards were ambushed as they walked down an alleyway, Le Matin said.
The
rival Armed Islamic Group (GIA), whose leader Antar Zouabri was killed by
security forces on February 8, is active mainly in the south and west.
Both
the GSPC and the GIA have rejected a reconciliation program set up by Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 1999 to end the country's civil war, which has
claimed more than 150,000 lives since 1992. Violence has risen sharply since
Bouteflika announced last week that legislative elections are to be held on May
30.
Since
the beginning of this month, some 40 people, many of them civilians, have been
killed in the chronic unrest, according to tolls established by the authorities
and the press. The violence has claimed nearly 260 victims since the beginning
of the year, the same sources said.
About
120,000 rebels, security forces and civilians have died since activists launched
an insurgency after the army canceled 1992 legislative elections that the
Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party was expected to win.
