2nd Bombing in Algeria in as Many Days

Second bombing in Algeria in as many days. Eleven people have so far been reported killed. The second bombing targeted the military command in Bouira. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion lays on al Qaida's north Africa wing. NY Times

PARIS — Two car bombs killed at least 11 people and wounded 31 others on Wednesday in the Algerian town of Bouira, a day after a suicide bombing killed 43 people and wounded 45 others in a neighboring region, according to the Algerian Interior Ministry.

The bombs on Wednesday were aimed at the military command in Bouira and the nearby Hotel Sophie, the town’s largest, witnesses told The Associated Press. The car bombs went off around 6 a.m. and appeared to be powerful, badly damaging the military compound and barracks in Bouira, about 60 miles southeast of Algiers.

The bomb near the hotel exploded as a passenger bus drove by, according to the Algerian press agency APS.

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The Algerian government has said that the attacks are a response to a successful counterterrorist campaign. On Tuesday, Algeria’s interior minister, Yazid Zerhouni, said that “these terrorist gangs are seeking through attacks against civilians to loosen the net closing around them as the security forces drive them to the wall.”

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France condemned “the barbaric and blind violence” of the attack Tuesday in the former French colony.