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Eleven Killed In Algerian Violence
ALGIERS, March 18 (News Agencies) - Violence in Algeria's civil war has claimed another 11 lives including those of seven pro-government civilian guards, press reports said Sunday.
Supposed Islamists carried out separate attacks overnight Friday in Aomar, near Bouira, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Algiers, during which an off-duty policeman was killed in a cafe and six armed civilian guards were killed in an ambush.
Another civilian guard was killed Saturday in an ambush in El Tarf, near the border with Tunisia.
Also overnight Friday, security forces killed an Islamist in Mostefa ben Brahim, 360 kilometers (220 miles) southwest of Algiers, the newspaper Le Matin reported.
In addition, the newspaper said two fighters who had turned themselves in to the authorities were killed by their former comrades-in-arms in the Jijel region, 300 kilometers (185 miles) west of Algiers.
The two were kidnapped along with a relative in February. Le Matin reported that their kidnappers cut the brothers' throats before freeing the relative as a warning against others tempted to surrender.
The latest killings bring to 210 the number of people killed in Algeria's civil war this month, and more than 600 since the start of the year, based on press reports.
Algeria has been gripped by insurgency since early 1992, when the army prevented the now-outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from taking power by calling off the second round of general elections the party was poised to win.
Violence since has claimed more than 100,000 mainly civilian lives.
The armed wing of the FIS, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), benefited from a blanket amnesty under an ambitious "civil reconciliation" initiative launched by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power since April 1999.
Two hardline-armed groups, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), rejected Bouteflika's offer of amnesty, and have allegedly continued attacks against military and civilian targets.
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