Seven killed on Algerian beach

The young people were camping on a beach

By the BBC's North Africa correspondent David Bamford

Reports from north-eastern Algeria say suspected Islamist militants have attacked a large group of young people who were camping on a beach.

Local authorities say that seven people were killed in what is being described as a brutal attack, and several more were wounded.

They say that Islamic militants are responsible for the murders.

The incident comes amid a wave of recent reports of attacks on young couples by religious conservatives in different parts of the country.

Tales of horror

According to survivors, about 30 young people were camped on the beach at Saraida, just to the west of the town of Annaba.

Five of them who had made their way to their vehicle in a nearby car park were confronted by men wearing police uniforms.

The five became suspicious and began running away, then the armed men opened fire.

The attackers shot three of them dead and wounded the other two.

They then turned their attention onto a young couple, including a 16-year-old girl, who tried to get away in their car.

17 died in a suspected Islamist attack in August

They were caught and their throats slit.

Then the armed men headed towards the tents on the beach. They began firing, shooting dead a beach guard and one of the campers.

The remaining young people ran off into the darkness and hid in the sand dunes until help arrived several hours later.

Brutal violence

These latest killings, one of a series blamed on the Islamist groups, coincide with a number of attacks on young couples.

An attempt to burn a man and woman alive near Annaba on Saturday only failed because local people heard their cries for help.

The couple are in hospital with serious burns.

Another attack at Tiaret, in the north-west, was more deadly, killing eight people.

The government says those who died were four couples, and their murders the apparent work of religious conservatives.