Islamic insurgents attacked a home in a village west of Algiers, killing 13 people, all from the same family, the Algerian news agency said Tuesday.
About the same time and in the same area, a different group of insurgents shot to death 9 people at a roadblock in Sidi Lakhdar, an estimated 75 miles west of the capital, the APS agency reported. Three people were wounded.
APS stated that the attackers used explosives to blast their way into the home in the village of Sidi Ammar, then shot and knifed to death the family members. The agency did not identify those killed or provide data regarding their ages.
The motive for the attack was unclear, however, at least one of the dead belonged to a civilian defense force. The government has organized and armed civilians in the battle against insurgents.
Only two days earlier, 11 people were killed at another insurgent roadblock south of the capital, the agency said. Insurgents frequently set up roadblocks to steal money from motorists, sometimes killing those whose cars are stopped.
The escalation in violence comes after several months in which there had been relatively few of the collective killings that have been prevalent throughout the 10-year-old insurgency in the country.
The revolt was triggered by an army decision to cancel January 1992 legislative elections to thwart a likely victory by a Muslim fundamentalist party.
Algerian authorities are expected to announce in the near future the dates for a new round of legislative elections this year, the second parliamentary vote since the 1992 balloting was canceled. (Albawaba.com)
