Algiers - Aircraft dropped bombs in support of thousands of troops battling Islamist rebels in a dense forest in northern Algeria, a local daily reported yesterday. "The huge operation which began last week against hideouts of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) involved thousands of soldiers belonging to various army units," the French-language daily Le Jeune Independant said.
It said aircraft bombed several targets in the Mizrana forest near the coastal town of Dellys, 80 km east of Algiers, where an unspecified number of GIA rebels are holed up.
It said the army had brought in bulldozers to clear paths through the forest as commandos prepared to storm the rebel hideouts.