Algerian forces continue campaigns against Islamist groups

The Algerian daily La Tribune on Monday said that 30 armed extremists and four soldiers were killed over the weekend in a battle in Teiyart Province, 200 Km southwest of the capital. Eyewitnesses said the armed groups were at Abidit farm.

The Algerian daily Liberte said that Algerian forces have besieged a large number of armed men in Jabal Seidi al-Arabi district in Telmesan province, 440 km from the capital and are preparing to attack their positions.

During March and February the government forces killed more than 200 armed men in military operations in Telmesan and Sidi Bel Abbes, Mascara and Relizane provinces. The government initiatives were followed by massacres claiming the lives of hundreds of Algerian civilians.

In Djelfa district in southwestern Algeria, three pro-government armed men and an Islamist were killed in confrontations that took place when an armed group tried to get into the town of Halil to commit a massacre.

In another development, the higher Islamic council, the supreme religious commission in Algeria, on Monday denied news that it released a fatwa permitting abortions for women who were raped by "terrorists."

On Sunday, the Algerian daily al-Khabar reported that some 1,600 rape cases by terrorists have been reported so far.