ALGERIA:BOUIRA - Two car bombs in Algeria killed 11 people yesterday, the latest attacks in the bloodiest week of unrest in years and a blow to hopes that the Opec member state can soon end a lingering Islamist insurgency.
The bombings at Bouira, 90km (56 miles) southeast of Algiers, follow a spate of attacks by al-Qaeda's north African wing, including a bombing on Tuesday that killed 43 people and ambushes on Sunday that killed 11.
State radio said yesterday's bombings targeted the local military commander inside an army barracks and Canadians working on a water project in the north African country of 34 million, a key oil and gas supplier to Europe.
In Ottowa, a Canadian government source said no Canadians had been affected by the incident.
Canadian engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group said later that 12 of its Algerian employees were killed when a bus carrying them to work on a water project was hit by an explosion.
An interior ministry communique carried by the official APS news agency said at least 11 people were killed and 31 people, including four military personnel, were wounded. All the dead were civilians.
The first bomb hit the barracks at 6am.
The second went off near a hotel 15 minutes later, exploding just as a bus passed by carrying workers to a dam construction site, APS said. Most of those who died were travelling on the bus.
APS did not specify the nationality of the dead. "The bus was left a complete wreck," said one witness who did not want to be named. "Nearby were pools of blood, watches, tattered clothes and a mobile telephone still ringing."
Halim Osbani (32), who lives near the military barracks, said a suicide bomber rammed a car into the building.
The urban bombings reflect new tactics first adopted in 2007 by the militants, who had previously specialised in ambushing troops in remote areas, analysts said.
Some Islamic scholars in Algeria and abroad had argued that suicide bombings were un-Islamic.
"The hardcore of hardliners in the group in favour of suicide bombings are in charge of the operations on the ground," said security analyst Mounir Boudjemaa, explaining the attacks.
"There is no easy solution to stop a suicide bomber.
"The only way is to continue to besiege the terrorist strongholds and fight them there.
"It is a race against time," he said. - ( Reuters)