ALGIERS - Algeria was yesterday reeling from the aftershock of two suicide bombings that killed at least 33 people and fuelled fears of the emergence of an Al-Qaeda front in the north African region.
ALGIERS - Algeria was yesterday reeling from the aftershock of two suicide bombings that killed at least 33 people and fuelled fears of the emergence of an Al-Qaeda front in the north African region.
Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem vowed that national elections on May 17 would go ahead.
"The objective [of the suicide bombers] was a media provocation shortly before the election," Belkhadem said.
The bombings, which followed suicide blasts in neighbouring Morocco, were claimed by an organisation claiming to be affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
The civil defence department said the death toll was likely to rise. About 50 of the 222 injured are said to be in a serious condition.
The first of Wednesday's attacks was carried out by a bomber who drove an explosives-laden car into a guard post at government headquarters.
Minutes later bombers in two cars triggered explosions on the road to the international airport and near one of Algeria's largest universities.
The attackers were trying to terrorise the people of Algeria, Belkhadem said.
"But the Algerian people do not accept their style - they reject violence and terrorism."
For Amria Abdelmoun, a resident of Algiers , the explosions were a reminder of the 1990s .
"We were told that [the Islamists] would never return and that we had seen the death throes of those fanatics," he said. - Sapa-AFP
Suicide bombers outrage Algeria
ALGIERS - Algeria was yesterday reeling from the aftershock of two suicide bombings that killed at least 33 people and fuelled fears of the emergence of an Al-Qaeda front in the north African region.
ALGIERS - Algeria was yesterday reeling from the aftershock of two suicide bombings that killed at least 33 people and fuelled fears of the emergence of an Al-Qaeda front in the north African region.
Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem vowed that national elections on May 17 would go ahead.
"The objective [of the suicide bombers] was a media provocation shortly before the election," Belkhadem said.
The bombings, which followed suicide blasts in neighbouring Morocco, were claimed by an organisation claiming to be affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
The civil defence department said the death toll was likely to rise. About 50 of the 222 injured are said to be in a serious condition.
The first of Wednesday's attacks was carried out by a bomber who drove an explosives-laden car into a guard post at government headquarters.
Minutes later bombers in two cars triggered explosions on the road to the international airport and near one of Algeria's largest universities.
The attackers were trying to terrorise the people of Algeria, Belkhadem said.
"But the Algerian people do not accept their style - they reject violence and terrorism."
For Amria Abdelmoun, a resident of Algiers , the explosions were a reminder of the 1990s .
"We were told that [the Islamists] would never return and that we had seen the death throes of those fanatics," he said. - Sapa-AFP
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