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Militants kill 7 policemen

ALGIERS - Suspected Islamist militants killed seven policemen in Algeria in an ambush, local newspapers reported yesterday.

ALGIERS - Suspected Islamist militants killed seven policemen in Algeria in an ambush, local newspapers reported yesterday.

The militants exploded home-made bombs on two vehicles carrying policemen and then machine-gunned them, killing five and wounding three others on Sunday in Tizi Ouzou province, about 100km east of Algiers, the newspapers said.

Two injured policemen died later in hospital, El Watan, Le Soir d'Algerie and Le Quotidien d'Oran said.

At least two rebels were killed by government troops in a clash after the ambush, said El Watan.

Authorities were not immediately available for comment.

Seven bombs went off almost simultaneously in the same province last month, killing six people.

Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, claimed responsibility for last month's bombings.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which came a day after three Algerians and a Russian were killed in a road-side bombing.

Violence broke out in 1992 after the government scrapped polls that the Islamist party, the Islamic Salvation Front, was set to win. - Reuters

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