Death toll in Algeria Ramzan violence reaches 200

Death toll in Algeria Ramzan violence reaches 200
REUTERS

DEC 18: Algerian rebels raised their fundamentalist struggle to new levels of violence at the weekend killing nearly 40 people, including pupils machine-gunned to death in a boarding school dormitory.

The deaths in three separate incidents brought to about 200 the number of people killed, including rebels, government troops and civilians, since the holy month of Ramadan began three weeks ago. Muslim fundamentalists traditionally see the fasting month of Ramadan as the sacred period for their jihad (holy war).

El Watan daily newspaper said a group of "terrorists" machine-gunned a bus carrying civilians, killing 15 and wounding several others at a fake roadblock on Sunday night near the city of Tenes, 200 km (125 miles) West of Algiers.

In another attack one hour later, five civilians, including three women, were shot dead by rebels in the small city of Khemis Miliana, 120 km (75 miles) West of Algiers.

The attacks followed the massacre of 15 teenage students and a teacher while they were asleep in the boys' dormitory of a lycee in the town of Medea, 90 km (55 miles) South of Algiers, on Saturday night.

Political sources said the school was targeted because the rebels apparently wanted to attract media attention with a spectacular attack.

Breaking its customary silence on rebel attacks, the official APS news agency reported the Medea raid, ending nearly two years of blackout on security-related news in state-controlled media.

More than 100,000 people have been killed since 1992 in Algeria in an Islamic insurgency which began after the army-backed authorities cancelled a general election the Moslem fundamentalists were poised to win.

Despite President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's peace drive, which he launched 18 months ago, new killings are reported almost daily.