Armed Islamists killed six people in an ambush in the mountainous forest region of Benni Sennous in the far northwest of Algeria today.
Gunmen opened fire on their vehicle after it had been brought to a halt by a bomb that exploded on the side of the road in the area, near Tlemcem. The victims all worked for a construction materials company, the residents said.
Extremists belonging to the hardline Algeria Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which is waging a bloody insurgency against Algeria's secular authorities, frequently operate in that part of western Algeria.
The violence began after the army in January 1992 halted a general election which a Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win and has since claimed more than 100,000 lives.
Since the beginning of June, at least 92 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded.
AFP