Algerian forces kill 20 rebels after ambush

Algerian security forces killed 20 Islamist guerrillas after the rebels ambushed a convoy carrying medicines in western Algeria, an Algerian newspaper reported on June 29.

Troops killed the rebels in the Saida province last week, after the ambush in which four civilians were killed.

The newspaper also said suspected Muslim rebels detonated a homemade bomb in a train early on June 28, killing one passenger and wounding three.

Another newspaper, Le Matin, said the bomb explosion had only wounded five passengers on the train, which had been traveling from Al-Affroun west of the capital, to Algiers. It was the third bomb to have been planted on a train during the past week.

Two earlier ones, in two coaches of the same train, wounded at least 46 people, while one newspaper also said two people were killed.

According to Algerian newspaper reports, more than 200 civilians have been killed in Algeria since a general election, seen by the authorities as a step towards ending violence, was held on June 5.

About 60,000 people have been killed in Algeria since early 1992 when the authorities canceled a general election in which radical Islamist candidates had taken a huge lead.