Algiers, Algeria: A squad of Al Qaida-linked militants tried to storm a police station east of the Algerian capital, killing one and injuring three, while a senior army officer died in a separate clash, local media and an official said.
The violence in the Kabylie region, east of capital Algiers, came as Algeria's President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika prepared to visit the area yesterday to campaign for re-election.
A local official in Kabylie told The Associated Press that a lieutenant colonel was killed in an ambush on Thursday near the town of Azeffoun while his troops were tracking down militants in the mountainous area some 60km northeast of the town of Tizi Ouzou.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Algerian regulations prohibiting discussion of security matters publicly, said the slain officer was one of the military commanders for the Kabylie region and that his death complicated the large security efforts under way for of the president's visit.
Separately, a local official in the town of Les Ouacifs said about 30 militants from Al Qaida stormed the area at sunset on Tuesday, converging on the local police station and spraying it with bullets for half an hour.
Several independent newspapers also reported the incident on Thursday. The Al Watan daily reported that four police officers were injured.
The local official said one of the injured officers died in the hospital on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said no militants appeared to have been injured and they withdrew to the mountains after the assault.
The militants spread panic in the town but did not use mortar or heavy weapons as they often do during attacks, the official said.
