Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Naciria attack

03/01/2008

After two deadly bombings in Algiers last month, al-Qaeda terrorists began 2008 with another suicide attack east of the capital. Algerian authorities arrested the mastermind behind the April 11th attack.

Boualam Senhadji in Algiers contributed to this report – 03/01/08

[Getty Images] Algerian army forces immediately restricted Naciria following the attack

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's (January 2nd) suicide bombing in Algeria that killed five people and injured 20 others, according to the latest official figures. At 6:45 am, a small truck laden with explosives drove at high speed towards a police station in Naciria, a small town east of Algiers in the wilaya of Boumerdès. The driver reportedly detonated the Toyota Hilux after he was ordered to stop by three policemen.

In a statement aired by Al Arabiya television, al-Qaeda's Maghreb wing spokesman Salah Abou Mohammad said the truck that targeted the police station in Naciria carried at least 500 kg of explosives.

A 10-year-old girl on her way to buy milk was among those killed by the blast, Echourouk reported. Most of the victims were rushed to a hospital in Algiers, while several other casualties were treated at the Bordj-Menael hospital in Boumerdès. Four of the injured who were taken to a hospital in Algiers are listed in critical condition.

The front of the police station was badly damaged by the force of the blast, which could be heard tens of kilometres away.

Algerian army forces immediately restricted Naciria and began conducting military operations in nearby forests. The targeted area is adjacent to Sid Ali Bounab, a reported stronghold for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

France strongly condemned the suicide attack. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said, "The French authorities wish to reaffirm their solidarity with the Algerian authorities in their fight against terrorism". She added that France expressed its deepest sympathy to "the Algerian authorities as well as [to] the families of the victims".

The attack in Naciria comes less than three weeks after the double suicide car bomb attack in Algiers on December 11th which targeted the Constitutional Court and offices of the UN. The attacks killed 41 people – 17 of them UN workers – and injured dozens of others. Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Algerian authorities have stepped up security operations in the capital and across the country this week. Police forces have been redeployed around official institutions, diplomatic missions and international agencies in the capital. Security was also heightened around government offices in other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Algerian security forces have arrested a 28-year-old man suspected of recruiting suicide bombers and buying explosives for two attacks on April 11th which killed 33 people, the daily Le Soir reported Wednesday. The unidentified suspect was seized at his Algiers home Saturday night.