Two Attacks in Algeria Leave 27 Dead, Papers Say

Islamic militants killed 11 nomads, including children, with knives before burning their tents at their campground, an Algerian newspaper reported.

The Arabic-language daily Essahafa said today that an unidentified group of militants carried out the attack Thursday near Laghouat, 280 miles south of Algiers.

The Liberte daily reported today that, in a separate incident, 16 members of an Islamic militant group were killed Thursday near Chlef, a town about 150 miles west of Algiers. Government troops surprised the militants in their base in the mountains, the newspaper said.

Algeria, in the throes of a bloody Islamic insurgency since 1992, has been plunged into fresh violence in recent weeks, undermining peace efforts by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The Liberte daily reported Friday that the Islamic Salvation Army, the armed wing of the banned political movement Islamic Salvation Front, may soon agree to give up its weapons under an amnesty proposed by Bouteflika.

The report could not be independently confirmed, nor was there any immediate government reaction.

Bouteflika has offered an amnesty to Islamic militants who turn in their weapons by Jan. 13 and who are not guilty of crimes such as rape or bombings.

The Islamic Salvation Army announced a unilateral truce two years ago that was not publicly supported by other Islamic militants, including the violent Armed Islamic Group.

About 100,000 people have died in violence in the North African nation since 1992, when Islamic militants launched an insurgency after the government canceled elections that the Islamic Salvation Front was set to win.