Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks that killed dozens in Algeria -- including an assassination attempt on the country's president. A statement posted on the group's Web site Sunday said Abu al-Muqdad al-Wahrani -- strapped with an explosives belt -- was unable to get past the security guards protecting Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika when he visited the town of Batna on Thursday just east of the capital city, Algiers. "The martyr was not able to reach his target ... and detonated his belt amid Bouteflika's security cordon," the statement said. That attack killed 19 and wounded 107 others, state-run news agency Algerie Presse Service reported.Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb also claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide attack on an Algerian Coast Guard barracks in the port of Dellys, some 50 miles (80 km) from Algiers. The statement said Abu Musab al-Zarqawi drove a truck packed with 800 kilograms (1,760 lbs) of explosives into the barracks, surprising some 150 military personnel during their "morning gathering," the statement said.
| Isn't that cute? He named himself after Zark. Now he's just as dead. |