Algiers - Sixteen Algerian civilians were killed by presumed rebels in separate attacks overnight in areas located south of the capital Algiers, the official APS news agency said yesterday.
APS carried a security forces statement saying seven had been killed "in a cowardly way" - the usual Algerian term for victims who have had their throats cut in attacks blamed by officials on Muslim rebels.
The security forces said the seven were killed overnight in Ain Defla province, 130 km south-west of Algiers. Four others were also killed overnight in the same province, it added, and five were killed in Sidi Bouzid village.