Algerian Army Kills 5 Suspected Militants

Algerian soldiers killed five gunmen during anti-militant operations, the defence ministry and army said yesterday, a day after raiding the suspected hideout of jihadists who beheaded a French hostage, AFP reported.

Three suspected militants were killed yesterday in the area of Bouria, 120km east of Algiers, the ministry said in a statement.

Two Kalashnikovs and a semi-automatic rifle were seized, it added. The fourth militant were killed in a separate raid on Thursday in the Tiaret region, 340km southwest of Algiers.

A separate statement from the army said troops killed a fifth militant in the Tiaret region and that soldiers had also seized an assault rifle in the operation. The army also announced Thursday that it had destroyed a camp in the Djurdjura Mountains, 150km southeast of Algiers, believed to have been used by militants who beheaded French hiker Herve Gourdel last month.