Rebels kill 22 people in Algeria

Algiers - Suspected Algerian Islamic rebels killed 22 people in two attacks, one of them at a wedding, the official APS news …

Algiers - Suspected Algerian Islamic rebels killed 22 people in two attacks, one of them at a wedding, the official APS news agency reported yesterday.

Twelve people were killed and seven wounded at a wedding on Wednesday night in the town of Larbaa, about 50 km south-west of Algiers, APS quoted a security forces' statement as saying.

"The terrorists took the victims by surprise during a wedding," it said. "Terrorist" is the word Algerian officials and the media use for Islamic insurgents who have been waging a bloody campaign for nearly 10 years to overthrow the military-backed government.

The victims were not named and no details on the circumstances of the killing were given. But the daily newspaper, Liberte, said the attackers had burst into the home of Mr Abdelkader Z'mit during the celebration of his son's wedding.