Algerian security forces kill 6 militants

2009-03-28 19:19:02 -

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Security forces raided a militant base near the Algerian capital, killing six suspected al-Qaida-linked Islamists and arresting 10 people from a support cell, a government official and local media reported Saturday.
The raid came as Algerian authorities strengthened security operations throughout the north of the country ahead of presidential elections on April 9.
A combined army and police force raided the militant base on Thursday in a zone of hilly forests around Hammam Melouane, near the town of Blida some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital, Algiers, a government official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of Algerian restrictions about discussing security matters, identified two of the six militants as Youssef Hammou, 40, and Madani Hamoui, 38.
Hammou was a local leader of the Armed Islamic Group, one of the bloodiest militias in Algeria's insurgency that left up to 200,000 people dead in the 1990s, the official said.
The official said 10 suspected members of a support cell were also detained.
It was not immediately clear if there were casualties among the government forces. Authorities have not publicly commented on the case.
Several newspapers reported Saturday on the bloodshed. The raid came after other militants linked to al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa killed a lieutenant colonel and a police officer in two separate clashes this week.
The militant group is a leftover from a near civil war between armed Islamists and secular-leaning government forces. It officially joined Osama bin Laden's terror network in 2006.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who is running for a third term in the presidential election, has made national reconciliation between Islamists and secularists the cornerstone of his presidency.
In a speech Friday, he again appealed to militants, saying the government had no «bitterness or hatred» against them and that those who renounce violence can still benefit from an amnesty program passed in 2005.