PARIS - Algerian security forces have killed at least 53 Muslim guerrillas in two separate raids on their strongholds in Algiers and the western province of Relizane, Algerian residents and a newspaper said yesterday.
Government forces killed 43 guerrillas from the Armed, Islamic Group on Saturday at the end a three-day search operation in Relizane province, some 300 km south of Algiers, the Le Soir d'Algerie said. Security forces backed by crack army troops killed at least 10 Muslim rebels in a 12-hour-siege in the Algiers Casbah, a rebel bastion in the old centre of the capital, residents said.