The Algerian Ministry of Defence said Sunday that nine soldiers were killed and two others were injured in an attack carried out by militants against an army unit Friday.
The attack reportedly took place in the Souk Al-Ataf district of Ain Defla province (to the west of the capital), which al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for.
“Nine soldiers were martyred and two others injured, after an army unit was exposed to live fire from a terrorist group,” a ministry statement released on its website said. “The army soldiers are on a search and sweep mission in the region.”
“These sorts of criminal operations come after painful strikes that the terrorist groups received and the huge losses that they incurred during the past months,” the statement added.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb also claimed responsibility for another attack on an Algerian army unit in a statement released on allied militant websites on Sunday.
We could not confirm the claim from an independent source.
The Algerian Ministry of Defence said in data it published in June that the armed forces “killed 102 terrorists during the first half of 2015,” most of them in provinces in the north of country and near the capital.
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