Algeria was rocked by its second suicide bombing in three days on Saturday as an explosion ripped through a naval barracks in the north-east of the country, killing at least 28 people. Around 60 others were injured in the attack in the port town of Dellys 70 kilometres (45 miles) east of Algiers, medical sources told AFP.
Most of the dead were members of the naval coastguard but civilians were among the injured. A van normally used to deliver supplies to the barracks smashed through the rear entrance and penetrated 20 metres (yards) inside the base before exploding, according to witnesses. The vehicle had been hijacked beforehand, its driver was kidnapped and it was packed full of explosives, first reports said.
A local police official organising the airlifting of the injured by helicopter of the injured said the death toll could rise significantly. The government said it held Islamist militants responsible for the bombing, one of the deadliest in the north African country since April and the second in three days. On Thursday a suicide bombing killed 22 people and wounded more than 100 others in what appeared to be an assassination attempt on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Batna.
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