ALGIERS: Algerian government forces have killed 10 militants in an operation in the south of the country, the state news agency APS said, where authorities are concerned about an influx of arms and fighters from neighboring Mali and Libya.

Violence and militant attacks are rarer since Algeria ended its decade-long 1990s war with armed rebels, but the North African branch of Al-Qaeda branch and other militants are still active. “The number of terrorists killed in an operation since Monday near Tin-Zaouatine ... has risen to ten,” APS said, quoting a Defense Ministry bulletin. It said that rifles, rocket and grenade launchers were also recovered.

AQIM claimed responsibility for an assault last month in which militants ambushed an army patrol in the mountains east of Algiers.