ALGIERS, 9 September 2007 — A booby-trapped car exploded outside coast guard barracks in Algeria yesterday, killing at least 30 people in the North African nation’s second terror attack in less than 48 hours, hospital authorities said.
The explosion ripped through the northern coastal town of Dellys, about 50 km from Algiers, as the local coast guard was taking part in the morning flag-raising ceremony.
All the victims were coast guard officials, who are part of Algeria’s armed forces, hospital officials said. The death toll rose steadily throughout the day as many victims died in hospital of their injuries. Dozens more were injured.
A recent spate of major bombings in Algeria has generated fears of a return to the mass-scale violence of the 1990s, when Algeria’s Islamic insurgency peaked.
The country, a staunch US ally in the war against terror, has been trying to turn the page on the 15-year insurgency that killed 200,000 people. Until recently, its efforts appeared mostly successful.
The attack came just two days after another bombing killed at least 22 in a crowd of people in eastern Algeria who were waiting to see visiting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has devoted his eight years in office to ending the insurgency. There was widespread speculation that Bouteflika was the intended target of that attack, though Algerian officials kept silent on the question. Police said the bomber was killed by security services after he dropped the explosives and tried to escape.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility in either attack. However, an Al-Qaeda affiliate calling itself Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa has been active in Algeria lately.
