Reports from Algiers say that six people were killed at a village Bouhrahilin the Medea region, about a-hundred kilometres south of the capital.

The security forces blamed Islamic militants for the killings.

Elsewhere, the security forces say they mounted two offensives this week in the east and west of the country against suspected Islamic militants.

They say that more than thirty suspects were killed in the operations.

State television showed pictures of the bodies of thirteen men.