Twin bombings in eastern Algeria killed seven people late last night including two members of the security forces and a fireman, the state news agency APS reported.
The bombs exploded on the same day President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who took office in 1999 during a strong islamist insurgency, announced a long-anticipated bid for a third term in office.
The first device killed four members of the same family who were passing by in a van, including two women and a baby, APS cited a security source as saying.
The second exploded moments later when emergency services and security forces arrived. A local official was also badly wounded, APS said. The attack took place in Foum El-Metlag, a district south of the town of Tebessa near the border with Tunisia.
Al Qaeda's north African wing has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings in the OPEC member country in recent years.
The group is the remnant of a much broader insurgency that shook Algeria during the 1990s but has largely died out since the government offered successive amnesties to encourage rebels to disarm.
Yesterday's attack took place far from Kabylie, the mountainous region just east of the capital Algiers that has seen most attacks in recent years.
Reuters