25 Aug 2009
At least 3 people, including 2 paramilitary police and a civilian, have been killed in an ambush in western Algeria.

The incident occurred Monday afternoon, when a roadside bomb detonated near a military convoy, passing through Ain Defla province, about 120 km west of the capital Algiers, witnesses told Press TV.

Gunmen also opened fire on the vehicle before the assailants escaped into nearby woods.

According to witnesses, the troops were ambushed while traveling to the Tarek Ibn Ziyad district to investigate the shooting death of a civilian.

Officials did not immediately confirm the incident, nor has any group come forward to claim responsibility for the attack.

Algeria has been witnessing an upsurge in attacks launched by al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, known as the “North African wing of al-Qaeda”, for the past two months.

On June 18, in one of the deadliest attacks to date, 24 people were killed after gunmen ambushed a paramilitary police convoy east of Algiers.

The country is still recovering from years of civil conflict, which broke out in 1992, and took the lives of 200,000 people.

presstv