ALGIERS, 4 April 2004 — Four Islamic extremist militants and a security official have been killed in unrest in Algeria, media and security officials reported yesterday
Two extremists were killed on Friday by security forces in the Boumerdes region east of the capital Algiers, officials said without giving any further details of their deaths.
Newspapers reported that a security official in the same region was killed Thursday by gunmen, while two armed extremists were shot dead by security forces in separate incidents in the Jijel and Skikda regions, both east of Algiers.
The reports came as the former French colony entered the final days of campaigning for the April 8 presidential election. The deaths brought the toll to 70 killed in unrest linked to Islamic extremists since the start of March.
Meanwhile, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, seeking re-election on April 8, said rebels fighting for a Taleban-style state have largely been crushed although a few die-hard elements still hold out.
Authorities estimate 100,000 Algerians were slain over the past decade in violence marked by massacres of entire villages, often with simple kitchen knives. Human rights groups put the toll at over 150,000 — mostly civilians killed by rebels.
“The war on terrorism is effectively won, but there are still a few pockets that make up what’s left of the terrorist groups,” Bouteflika told Reuters.
“This justifies maintaining the state of emergency which, of course, will be lifted as soon as security conditions permit,” he said in written replies to questions, received yesterday.
