Paris - A bomb blast killed three railway workers in western Algeria as troops, advancing on rebel bases near Algiers, killed 21 gunmen, national newspapers reported yesterday.
The three railway employees were killed on Monday near Draizine town, some 400 km west of Algiers, where the rail flatbed carrying them to work plunged into a crater formed by a bomb explosion the day before, El Watan newspaper said. Thirteen more workers were hurt in the incident.
Meanwhile in a highly publicised operation against Islamists near Algiers, troops killed 21 rebels and recovered documents they said showed that the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) commander, Antar Zouabri, had amassed a war chest, putting him on the top rung of Algeria's richest men, newspapers said. Al Khabar newspaper said soldiers shot dead the 21 members of a GIA's elite force on Monday in Baraki.