ALGIERS, 12 July 2007 — A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed truck into an Algerian barracks yesterday killing 10 soldiers a few hours before a major African sporting event started in the capital, security sources said. The young bomber drove the refrigerated truck into the entrance of the barracks at Lakhdaria, 70 kilometers southeast of Algiers, witnesses said.
Thirty-five people were wounded, some critically, security sources said, adding that the truck was completely destroyed by the blast. Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni, in the first official reaction to the attack, pinned the blame on Islamic extremists.
He said the government’s campaign against Islamist militants “will continue with the same determination” despite the bombing. “It was not ruled out that armed groups would carry out such attacks, which will in no way undermine the determination of the security services,” Zerhouni told reporters at the Parliament.
The minister called on Algerians for “greater vigilance” against armed groups. A major security operation was launched around Lakhdaria, in parallel to the huge precautions taken for the All-Africa Games, which involve 8,000 athletes from more than 20 countries.
Thousands of extra policemen have been deployed in and around the competition venues and athletes’ villages ahead of the opening of the games. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack which was the latest of a series in Algeria that have put Spain and other European countries on edge, amid fears of a spread of Islamist violence.
Many of the suicide attacks in Algiers and other cities this year have been claimed by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and renamed itself as Al-Qaeda’s branch in Islamic Mahgreb.
Lakhdaria, in a mountainous and wooded region southeast of the capital, is known as a militant stronghold. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called on the military to step up efforts against militants, in a speech last week to defense officials to mark the 45th anniversary of Algeria’s independence from France.
Some 50 people, including 28 militants, have been killed in Islamist-related violence in Algeria since the beginning of June alone, according to AFP figures based on official statements and newspaper reports.
