2 Algerian soldiers killed in terrorist ambush

Two Algerian army soldiers were killed on Monday in an ambush conducted by an armed group affiliated to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The armed militants opened fire on an army patrol. The attack, took place in a heavily wooded area in Boumerdès Naciria district. Another incident nearby resulted in the deaths of two civilians who were wrongly targeted by the army forces. The two civilians, who were riding a Chana vehicle, were shot mistakenly by army forces close to the terrorist operation in al-Shaliat neighbourhood. Local sources say the two victims were B Hamid, from the village of Tizi Nali Suleiman in Bordj Ménaïl district and his brother-in-law from the town of Draâ Ben Khedda in Tizi Ouzou Province. In related developments, army forces killed two al-Qaeda militants on National road 12 in the village of Shandar in the Bordj Ménaïl district Sunday night. Forces recovered two Kalashnikov rifles which were in the possession of the militants. The bodies of the militants were taken to the Bordj Ménaïl Hospital morgue for identification. Boumerdès remains the bloodiest Algerian province, which along with Tizi Ouzou and Bouïra, forms the epicentre of the activities of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The organisation is led by Abdelmalek Droukdel [known as Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud], who is based in the Akfadou mountains between the provinces of Béjaïa and Tizi Ouzou.