Algeria pounds insurgent stronghold

The Algerian military surrounded an insurgent stronghold near the capital and targeted the area with bombs, in the latest in a series of raids that have killed more than 20 militants, news reports said Sunday.

Government forces have stepped up sweeps of militant areas ahead of legislative elections scheduled this week.

The newspaper Liberte said the air force bombed an insurgent stronghold near the region of Tizi Ouzou, about 60 miles east of Algiers. About 20 militants, including several leaders, have been holed up in the area since Friday, the report said. Several bunkers used by the militants were destroyed in the bombings.

The newspaper did not report any casualties from the bombing raid, though it did say soldiers had killed at least six armed militants around the nearby village of Ait Yahia Moussa since Thursday.

Algeria has been fighting an insurgency since 1992, when the army canceled legislative elections that an Islamic party appeared set to win.

Since then, violence related to the insurgency has left more than 150,000 dead, including civilians, soldiers and Islamic fighters, according to the government.

Fighting largely abated in the late 1990s, but skirmishes have erupted in recent months.

Last month, double suicide bombings rocked Algiers, killing 33 people and injuring 57. Al Qaeda in Maghreb claimed responsibility for the April 11 attacks, which hit the prime minister’s office and a police station.

Some political observers have said Islamic militants could be looking to step up violence against government forces in an effort to disrupt Algeria’s legislative elections planned for Thursday.