Algerian security forces kill 3 suspected Islamic militants, capture 1

Algerian forces kill 3 suspected Islamic militants

ALGIERS, Algeria — Security forces killed three suspected Islamic militants and captured another during an operation in a forest in eastern Algeria, local police said Saturday.

Security officials surprised the suspects Friday as they emerged from their shelters in a forested part of the Jijel region, about 215 miles (350 kilometers) east of the capital, according to local police in the town of El Ancer.

The captured suspect, who was injured in the operation, tried unsuccessfully to flee. During a search of the suspects’ belongings, officials found two Kalashnikovs and an automatic pistol.

Police believe the men belonged to a branch of a militant group known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which is active in the North African country.

The group’s fighters are a leftover from a civil war between radical Islamists and government forces that killed up to 200,000 people in Algeria during the 1990s.

Violence has since largely abated, but al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb continues to regularly target government forces and has stepped up attacks against foreigners in recent years. The group officially merged with al-Qaida in 2006.