Daesh claims killing of Algerian police officer

Algiers: Daesh has claimed responsibility for the killing of an Algerian police officer while he was reportedly dining in a restaurant.

The group has been trying to expand in Algeria, where Al Qaida’s North African branch and other Islamist extremist groups have been based and have long fought Algerian authorities.

The Daesh-affiliated Amaq news agency said in a statement that Daesh fighters shot the officer and seized his weapon in the attack Friday in Constantine, 400 kilometres east of the capital Algiers. It later posted a picture of what it said was the officer’s gun.

Algerian authorities confirmed the police officer was killed by an unnamed “terrorist group,” but didn’t provide details or comment on the Daesh claim. The attackers are at large.