Eighteen people were killed overnight in two massacres at Tipaza and El-Affroun, about 70 kilometers west of the Algerian capital Algiers, reported AFP Tuesday.
In the first attack, 11 people had their throats cut while in the second, seven people were shot, residents told the agency by telephone.
Those killed in Tipaza were members of a family who were attacked by an armed group while they were asleep in their house, residents said.
At El-Affroun, an armed group clashed with village militia, killing one of them, before entering a house and slaughtering six members of a family, said the agency.
The latest deaths bring to 40 the number of civilians killed already this month, according to a toll compiled from newspaper reports.
On Monday, five men have been killed in an attack on a village in the north-east of the country, said the BBC.online, quoting local press.
The Liberte newspaper said a number of shepherds and farmers were tied up, adding that the attackers chose five and cut their throats in front of their wives and children.
The paper blamed Islamic militants for the attack in the Guelma region, more than five-hundred kilometers east of Algiers, said the news service – Albawaba.com
