Wedding massacre in Algeria

More than 150 people have been killed this month

By Mohammed Areski Himeur in Algiers

At least 22 people are reported to have been killed and several others wounded in a massacre of civilians attending a wedding near the capital, Algiers.

The celebrations, in the town of Larba, were in the space of a few minutes, transformed into a wake.

The attackers, believed to be from an armed Islamic group, killed women and children ranged in age from seven to 60.

Thirteen of the victims were shot in the house where the wedding party was being held and a further nine were killed in a neighbouring house.

Cut throats

Some were shot and some had their throats cut. The killers wore military uniforms.

They arrived at the first house and asked for water. They then opened fire on everyone gathered there, shooting indiscriminately.

The shootings caused panic in the surrounding neighbourhood and people fled towards the forest or towards the next town.

The neighbourhood in which the massacre took place was known between 1994 and 1997 as one of the most significant strongholds of the Armed Islamic Group, GIA.

GIA

Larba was the birthplace of Mustapha Kertali, leader of the local GIA group between 1993 and 1999.

In 1998 the Algerian army used massive force over the course of a month to destroy a GIA base near Larba.

Tens of militants and several members of the security forces were killed in the operation.

In 2000, the GIA split when Mustapha Kertali and his group took up the government offer of an amnesty and laid down their arms while GIA leader Antar Zouabri refused.

Since then the majority of the former fighters have lived in Larba and surrounding villages.

The attack is the latest in a series of killings to the south of the capital, Algiers and indicates that the group wishes to return to areas around the capital from which they were driven out two years ago.

It comes as the Algerian authorities are trying to get the West to align their battle against international terrorism with that in Algeria.