Explosions rock Algiers
Two bombs strike the PM’s headquarters and a police station in the Algerian capital.
Benmoussa said the timing of the attacks was possibly coincidental.
PM denounces attack
Abdel Karim Dahmen, a member of the ruling party, referred to the blasts as “bombs of terror” and said they could be an attempt to destabilise the country before elections due next month.
Algeria’s official news agency said 160 people were wounded [Reuters] |
Omar Dalal, the editor of the Al Shaab newspaper, was near the scene when one blast happened at 11:30am local time and said it took place in the street parallel to the 17-storey building that houses the prime minister’s office and several ministries, including the interior ministry.
The main anti-government rebel group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat has claimed responsibility for several attacks in recent months and has also declared itself to be a part of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organisation.
More than 100,000 Algerians died in a civil war between the government and Muslim fighters in the 1990s.