A homemade bomb targeting a police patrol exploded outside the Algerian capital Sunday, wounding five people, police officials said. The blast occurred in the town of Bordj Menaiel, in the Boumerdes region, located some 55 kilometers east of Algiers. The bomb - covered with earth and placed by the side of a road in the town's crowded central district - exploded as the police car passed. Two officers and three civilians were injured in the blast, which partially damaged the patrol car. Algeria has been working to quell sporadic violence linked to an insurgency that broke out in 1992 after the army canceled legislative elections that an Islamic party was set to win. As many as 200,000 have died in the resulting violence. While large-scale violence died down in the 1990s, scattered attacks by a local al-Qaida continue.