Algeria's top Al Qaida leader killed in clashes

Algiers, Algeria: The number two Al Qaida official in Algeria was killed on Thursday in clashes with an army patrol, the country's official APS news agency reported, citing security officials.

Samir Moussaab, who was also known as Samir Saioud, was killed near the village of Si Moustapha in the Boumerdes region, 40 kilometres east of the capital, Algiers, the report said.

It said Moussaab's body was identified by former members of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, or GSPC, an insurgent group that changed its name to Al Qaida in Islamic North Africa when it announced its alliance with Al Qaida in January.

The group, built on the foundations of an Algerian insurgency to topple Algeria's secular government, erupted in 1992 after the army cancelled elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was set to win.

Responsibility

Thursday's clash came weeks after double suicide bombings on April 11 that killed 33 and injured 57. Al Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for the attacks, coordinated suicide bombings targeting the prime minister's office and a police station.

The attacks were the deadliest to hit the Algiers region since 2002, when a bomb in a suburban market killed 38 and injured 80.

Violence has surged recently in Algeria and Al Qaida's North Africa wing has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks on foreigners.