Residents react near at the site of a bomb blast near the Constitutional Court building in Algiers, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Two car bomb attacks, one of which targeted offices of the U.N. refugee agency, killed at least 45 people in the Algerian capital on Tuesday, authorities said. The civil protection agency said one attack killed 30 people and that a second blast left another 15 people dead. (AP Photo)Car bombs exploded minutes apart Tuesday in central Algiers, heavily damaging U.N. offices and partly ripping the facade off a new government building. The interior minister said 22 were killed but hospital and rescue officials gave figures at least twice that toll.
The minister, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni, said another 177 people were injured in the attacks. A national official at the civil protection agency who spoke on condition of anonymity said 45 people were killed. A doctor at one Algiers hospital who said he was in contact with staff at other area hospitals put the death toll at least 60.
Suspicions quickly focused on the North African wing of al-Qaida. The date the 11th could point to an Islamic terror link. Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility for attacks on April 11 that hit the prime minister's office and a police station, killing 33 people.
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Source: AP
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