Villagers butchered in Algeria
Algeria, Politics, 7/25/1997

Muslim rebels killed 56 people, mostly by cutting their throats, in two attacks south of the capital Algiers, an Algerian newspaper said on July 23. Le Matin said 38 died in one attack and nine in another.

Another newspaper, Al Watan, also reported two massacres in the same area in which it said 26 people had died. It said the attacks took place during the night of July 24.

It was not clear from the details given whether the attacks reported by the two papers, in a country where verifying details of killings is difficult, whether these were the same or different incidents.

As usual, there was no official report or comment.

The death toll reported by Le Matin was one of the highest this year from attacks on isolated communities. In April 93 people were slaughtered in one attack, and 51 died earlier this month in one night of attacks on Algiers and the neighboring province of Medea.

This week's attacks in Blida province coincided with reports that 140 members of the feared Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had been killed by troops in the same region while they were meeting to plan strategy for their attempt to overthrow the authorities.

Le Matin said the massacres took place on the outskirts of Blida, both a garrison town and a known fundamentalist stronghold, 50 km south of Algiers.

The newspaper said "the terrorists," Algeria's official term for Muslim fundamentalists, cut the throats of nine people from two families in Benachour.

Al Watan said that another group attacked a village on the road to Chrea and killed 18 people from two families.

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