Algerian rebels kill 4 in ambush
20/07/2006 13:07  - (SA)  

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Algiers - Suspected Islamist militants shot dead four Algerian government municipal guards, said reports on Thursday, in an apparent escalation of attacks ahead of the expiry of an amnesty aimed at ending years of bloodshed.

It was reported that the guards were heading home when they came under fire in a mountainous area in Ain Defla province, some 150km southwest of Algiers on Tuesday.

The authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Tuesday's ambush followed an attack on July 12 after five municipal guards were killed in the neighbouring province of Tipasa.

Security experts usually blamed such killings on the al-Qaeda-aligned Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which opposed an amnesty offered by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The government said about 2 200 jailed rebels had been freed under the amnesty. Those still at-large had been offered a pardon provided they were not involved in massacres, rapes and bombings of public places.

The peace offer came into force in February and would expire at the end of August. Violence had sharply fallen in recent years after a civil strife that cost the lives of 200 000 people since 1992.

- Reuters

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