16 killed in new massacres in Algeria

Information coming from Algeria indicates that at least 16 persons were killed in new massacres implemented by a group opposed to the civil reconciliation that law was ratified in a referendum in last month.

The first incident took place in El-Dowaira city in western Algeria, where eight persons were killed and a 20-year-old girl was kidnapped, while another eight persons were killed in separate attacks launched by an Islamic extremist group in the last two days.

An independent Algerian source said that 40 Algerian persons have been killed since the referendum.

At least 60,000 persons were killed in the Algerian civil unrest which broke out after the cancellation of the 1992 elections, which the Islamic Salvation Front was about to win.