Eight Wounded As Algerian Police Open Fire on Muslim Worshipers

Security forces opened fire Friday on Muslim worshipers leaving a mosque, wounding eight, witnesses and officials said. It was the worst of a series of clashes between Islamic fundamentalists and the government.

The confrontation came as police cordoned off the Es-Sunna mosque and others in the capital. They also arrested a religious leader and used tear gas to disperse one crowd of youths.

The government has been working to break the political back of the fundamentalists’ Islamic Salvation Front in the wake of its first-round victory in parliamentary elections last month.

The crackdown began after President Chadli Bendjedid resigned and a military-backed committee that took his place canceled second-round parliamentary elections in which the Salvation Front was expected to gain a majority.

Tensions have been rising on recent Fridays because front leaders often use the Muslim holy day as a forum for political messages.

At Es-Sunna, in the lower-income neighborhood of Bab el-Oued, police fired warning shots to disperse hundreds of worshipers leaving the mosque, including many young men shouting insults.

Witnesses said security forces continued firing as they chased young people through the densely populated neighborhood that is a stronghold of the Islamic Front.

Earlier, police and soldiers blocked off roads leading to the mosque, as well as others, and turned back pedestrians and motorists unless they could prove they lived in the area.

One woman was among the eight people wounded in Bab el-Oued. Officials said 15 others were arrested for incitement.

Earlier, a small bomb was thrown over a wall at the U.S. Embassy, causing minor exterior damage, the embassy said. There was no claim of responsibility.