More Algerian massacres as international pressure for action grows

As international pressure mounts on Algeria for moves to halt the escalating massacres of civilians, newspapers there have reported another wave of mass killings.

They say at least one-hundred-and-sixty people died in attacks at the weekend -- mainly in the north-west.

In one village Meknessa one-hundred-and-seventeen people are said to have had their throats cut; another village Had Chekala is reported to have been burnt down and all its inhabitants killed, many of them burnt alive in their homes.

The European Commission has expressed deep concern at the mounting scale of the atrocities since the start of Ramadan the Islamic holy month of fasting, which the BBC Middle East correspondent says is viewed by the Islamic militants blamed for the bloodletting as an auspicious time for waging holy war.

Both the United States and France have called on Algeria to protect its civilians, while Germany has proposed sending a European Union peace mission to Algeria.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service