Suicide attack at Algerian police academy kills 43

[August 19, 2008]  ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) -- A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-rigged car into a police academy as applicants lined up to register for classes, killing at least 43 people, Algeria's Interior Ministry said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in recent years in the North African country.

The ministry said in a statement that the toll of 43 dead and 38 injured was a "preliminary estimate" for the attack early Tuesday in the Les Issers district of Boumerdes, some 35 miles east of the capital, Algiers.

Witnesses said all roads within two miles of Les Issers were blocked and cell phone networks were scrambled as police closed off the area.

A security official at the school told The Associated Press that the attack occurred as young applicants were in line, waiting to register at the local police academy.

"It's a bloodbath," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

He said the local police station, known as the gendarmerie, was vulnerable because of the crowd of applicants at its gate.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the country's al-Qaida affiliate has said it was behind a series of bombings in the past 18 months.

Tuesday's attack appeared to be one of the largest -- if not the largest -- in years. In December, a double suicide bombing in Algiers killed 41 people, including 17 U.N. workers. In April 2007, coordinated suicide strikes against the main government offices in central Algiers and a police station killed 33.

Tuesday's bombing came two days after a militant ambush in Skirda, about 300 miles east of Algiers, apparently targeted the military commander of the region and his police escort. Twelve people died in the Sunday attack, according to the Al Watan newspaper and several other dailies. Authorities have not commented on the case.

The reports said suspected Islamic militants detonated road mines, then opened fire on the convoy. They beheaded the victims and stole their uniforms along with a dozen automatic rifles.

In a similar attack three days earlier, militants killed the military chief for the Jijel area, also east of Algiers, local media reported.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, formerly known as the GSPC, grew out of an insurgency in the 1990s, which left as many as 200,000 dead.

Violence strongly diminished in Algeria in the early part of this decade, but attacks increased again after the GSPC affirmed allegiance to al-Qaida in 2006.

Most attacks have targeted the Algerian national security services and military, while a few have struck foreigners.

[Associated Press; By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU]

Associated Press writer Aomar Ouali contributed to this report.

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