Two bombs have rocked Algeria, one ripping through a crowded market killing at least 35 people and injuring about 80, as the country marked the 40th anniversary of independence.
The market bomb near Algiers today, the deadliest single attack on civilians this year, was followed by a second blast at a beach - also near the capital - in which two bathers were injured, security sources said.
No group claimed responsibility, but the government blamed Islamic rebels who have been accused of carrying out many similar bombings over the past nine years.
The first bomb tore through the market at Larba, 25 km (15 miles) south of Algiers at 9:15 a.m. (local time) when it was packed with shoppers and farmers who go there each week to buy and sell vegetables and fruit.
The device was hidden inside a heap of garbage bags just at the entrance to the market, one security source told reporters.
"The death toll climbed to at least 35 as seriously wounded people died later at hospital," a government hospital official said. The number of injured in the blast, which gouged out a two-metre-deep crater, was put at around 80.
"I saw at least 15 bodies on top of one another inside the crater left by the bomb impact," an eyewitness said.
Another said many of the dead were farmers' sons.
"Poor farmers, often accompanied by their children, came to that market from neighbouring villages to sell crops," the eyewitness said.
"I saw rescuers collecting pieces of human flesh into a bag. It is very difficult to forget such a sight," he added.