Some eight Islamists killed in Algeria

The Algerian dailies issued in Algiers on Thursday said Algerian security forces killed some eight armed gunmen on Tuesday night in the provinces of Mascara and Ain Defla in the western parts of the country and Tizi Ouzou in the al-Qabayel (tribes) district.

On Wednesday three Islamists were killed in a confrontation with the security forces near Istanbul wood, in Mascara province, 360 km west of the capital, Algiers.

The self-defense forces killed three gunmen in another confrontation in al-Mayen village near Ain Defla, 160 km west of the capital, while the Algerian dailies al-Khabar and Liberte said the Islamists tried to steal some 200 sheep.

For its part, Sawt al-Ahrar newspaper said that a police foot patrol on Tuesday night killed Islamists near Tizi Ouzou, 100 km east of Algiers, and wounded three of them.