Eight people were killed and two wounded in an attack by a six-strong gang of Muslim extremists in the town of Kolea, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Algiers, witnesses said Friday.
The gang attacked a house on the edge of the town and killed a taxi driver, his wife and five of their children overnight Wednesday, the witnesses said.
The group also cut the throat of a watchman at a building site from where they took a ladder they used to gain access to the taxi driver's house.
The driver, hearing steps in the courtyard, came out and tried to fight off the attackers with his bare hands. He was shot four times.
The attackers then cut the throat of his wife and four-year-old daughter, Ishraq, who was decapitated in her sleep, residents of the town said.
Afterwards, the group entered another room and killed four children -- two boys and two girls. Another two children, a boy and a girl, were wounded but survived the attack, the boy taking his sister to hospital and alerting the authorities.
Algeria has been gripped by insurgency since early 1992, when the army prevented the now-outlawed fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) from taking power by calling off the second round of general elections it was poised to win.
Violence since has claimed more than 100,000 lives, mainly those of civilians -- ALGIERS (AFP)
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