Algeria seizes 10 quintals of explosive substance near Tunisia border

Algerian border guards managed to seize ten quintals of phosphate destined for bombs manufacture near the border with Tunisia, a security source told Xinhua Tuesday on condition of anonymity. A unit of the border guard launched a wide night search operation in the desert region of Richa in the province of El Oued, 620 km southeast of Algiers, where a suspicious 4x4 vehicle was intercepted. The source said the car passengers were running away, leaving behind the car and 10 quintals of phosphate, a substance used to make bombs and explosives. The source said the border guard received accurate reports about the activity of phosphate traffickers, who belong to Tunisian extremist groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the border areas. Previous reports said the Algerian army declared a state of alert on the borderline with Mali, Libya and Tunisia, following information about a potential terror attack that would target vital sites in Algeria.