Al Qaeda's North Africa arm said it was behind a suicide bombing attack in Algeria on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the Internet on Wednesday. A car bomb went off near a police station in the town of Tizi Ouzou, east of Algiers, on Sunday, injuring 25 people including four policemen.
The group, al Qaeda organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, identified the bomber as Makhlouf Abou-Mariam and said his truck was laden with 600 kg of explosive materials.
The blast destroyed a dozen cars and shattered windows in the town centre. "We tell the sons of France and the slaves of America, and (we tell) their masters too, that our finger is on the trigger and the convoys of martyrs are longing to rampage your bastions in defence of our Islamic nation," the group said in the statement posted on an Islamist website.
The group also posted a picture of Abu-Mariam.
