Gość: Zionista
IP: 24.100.66.*
16.08.02, 21:03
Friday, 16 August, 2002, 17:36 GMT 18:36 UK
Dozens dead in Algeria massacre
Thousands have died in attacks this year
Mohammed Arezki Himeur
BBC correspondent in Algiers
In Algeria, there has been another bloody attack by armed Islamic militants.
According to a communique issued by the security services through the
Algerian Press Agency, 26 people were killed in one of the bloodiest
massacres since the beginning of the year.
The rebels have stepped up their attacks recently, killing thousands of
people this year alone.
The killings happened in the early hours of Friday morning in Bokaat
Laakakcha, in the Chlef region, some 200 kilometres west of Algiers.
The victims were members of three families and most of them were women and
children.
The location of the massacre was significant because the village where it
took place is located in a dense and mountainous forest between the volatile
regions of Chlef, Ain Defla, Tissemsilt and Relizane in the west.
This forest is seen as one of the key strongholds of armed Islamic militants
and the army has dropped bombs and sent troops into the area over the last
six months.
New leader
This latest attack has been blamed on the Armed Islamic Group (GIA).
Rachid Oukali, alias Rachid Abou Tourab, the new head of the group, has vowed
to continue in the bloody footsteps of his predecessor who was killed by the
security forces in February.
He has said in the past that there will be no dialogue, no respite - only
blood and destruction.
The 28-year-old has also threatened with death all Algerians who refuse to
join in what he describes as the "holy war" against the government.
He is quoted as saying: "We will continue to destroy their harvests, take
their goods, rape their womenand decapitate them in the the cities, the
villages and the deserts."
Thousands of people have been killed so far this year and since 1992 some
160,000 have fallen victim to the seemingly interminable cycle of violence.
Bombs shatter Algerian celebrations
14 Jun 02 | Africa
Algeria village attack kills 11
31 May 02 | Middle East
US condemns Algeria poll violence
08 Mar 02 | Middle East
Suspected rebels kill six in Algeria
11 Jan 02 | Middle East
Algeria's decade of bloody conflict
13 Jan 00 | Middle East
Algeria: Country profil
