20 killed in violence in Algeria within 2 days

Press reports said that 20 persons were killed in Algeria during the two past days, Monday and Tuesday in clashes between the security forces and what are considered to be armed Islamists

Papers said quoting security sources that five local guards and one civilian were killed on Tuesday when gunmen from al-Salafeyah group for fighting opened fire at a barrier on the road from Jejil east of the capital.

The Algerian daily "Liberty" said that three young men also died after they accidentally found a bomb buried by the gunmen in the mountains earlier.

The sources explained that four soldiers and seven gunmen at least were killed in clashes on Monday in al-Buweira mountains, 110 km to the east of the capital Algiers.

In a referendum on September 29th, the Algerian people supported a controversial government proposal of a partial pardon for gunmen in an attempt to end more than one decade of the civil war which claimed the life of 150,000 persons.

The "Salafeyah group for call and fighting" refused the offer, according to statement issued on the Internet.