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| Africa: North |
| Three dead in Algeria |
| 2003-07-15 |
| Three men transporting money in an armored truck through Algeria’s Kabylie region were killed in a bomb explosion Monday, in a fresh attack blamed on the country’s Islamic extremists, residents said. The truck, owned by the publicly-owned Bank for Local Development, triggered a bomb planted at the base of a bridge it was crossing, in a region east of Tizi Ouzo, about 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of Algiers, the locals said. The locals said men dressed in Afghan garb and sporting Kalashnikov and Seminov weapons then seized the money from the destroyed truck. Raising funds for the cause. They said army forces had launched an operation in the mountainous and wooded region to hunt for the attackers, whom they said were from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The ongoing war pitting the Salafist Group and the rival Islamic Armed Group (GIA) against the Algiers government has left a trail of bloodshed across the north African country, with mostly civilian casualties. Most recently, on July 4 and again near Tizi Ouzo - Kabylie’s main city - three others were killed including a lawmaker from Algeria’s ruling party. At the time, locals also said that GSPC gunmen, dressed as Afghans and also as soldiers and policemen, had stopped cars and extorted money from drivers. Dressed as Afghans, or real Afghans on "vacation"? The GSPC, which officials link to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, is the best armed and organized armed group in Algeria. The extremist groups are battling the government in a bid to establish an Islamic republic in Algeria. Cuz you can’t have too many Islamic republics. |
| Posted by:Steve |