Security official says militants kill 11 gendarmes in Algerian attack

Official: Militants kill 11 gendarmes in Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria — Suspected Islamic militants killed 11 Algerian gendarmes in a mortar and grenade attack near the North African nation’s border with Mali on Wednesday, a security official said.

The gendarmes were carrying out a patrol in 4X4 vehicles in the town of Tinzaouatine when the attackers emerged from behind a rock, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of his department’s policy.

The attack is the most deadly since the start of the year in Algeria, where armed hardline Islamic groups have aligned with al-Qaida to stage bombings and other attacks.

After killing the gendarmes, the attackers stole their weapons and communications devices and set fire to their vehicles, the official said.

Algeria’s conflict began in 1992 after the army canceled the second round of the country’s first-ever multiparty elections, stepping in to prevent a likely victory by the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front, commonly known by its French acronym, FIS.

Islamist armed groups worked to force to overthrow the government, and up to 200,000 people were killed in the violence that ensued. The attacks continue today, though they are more sporadic.

In another attack this month, a suicide bomber rammed a truck into the barracks of an elite police unit in a village east of the capital, and at least nine people died.