Up to 300 Algerians dead in worst slaughter of civil war

The worst massacre in the 5 1/2 year Algerian civil war has left as many as 300 people dead. Villagers in Rais, in the Sidi Moussa area at the base of the Atlas mountains just 20 km south of Algiers, were shot, had their throats slashed or were burned to death in a three-hour orgy of killing early yesterday.

The government usually observes total silence about the violence. But at least 225 people had been killed already this week before the Sidi Moussa massacre, and the enormity of the atrocity appears to have jolted officials. They issued a brief statement acknowledging that 98 people had been murdered and 120 wounded. Official figures have always minimised casualties.

Dr Ahmed Djeddai, a urologist who is the first secretary of the Front of Socialist Forces, an opposition party, told The Irish Times in a telephone interview that according to eye-witness accounts, more than 300 people had been killed. A spokesman for Hamas, the moderate Islamist party which holds 69 seats in parliament, also said it had received reports of more than 300 dead.

Residents of the region said a group of 50 to 60 guerrillas - some accounts put the number much higher - entered the village at around 2 a.m. They cut off all escape routes, split into groups of about 10, and for the next three hours went from house to house, killing everyone inside. Many people perished when their houses were set on fire. About 20 young women were reportedly kidnapped and taken away to be raped, a common practice which the guerrillas call "pleasure marriage".

Late on Thursday, a bomb exploded in the seafront Panorama cafe in Oran, 400 km west of Algiers, injuring dozens of people. Algerian officials often claim that the violence touches only the Mitidja plains around Algiers, and Oran, the second city in Algeria, had been spared in recent months. Two bombs in Algiers this week killed at least 12 passersby.

Every Algerian now knows someone who has been killed or wounded in the violence. "A close friend of ours was in the El Biar market when the bomb went off on Wednesday," an Algiers school teacher told The Irish Times yesterday. "Her little boy was killed and she lost an arm. She's a gynaecologist and she delivered my cousin's baby."

It is not clear whether any "patriots" - militias armed by the Algerian government - were victims of the massacre. The government began distributing weapons to local vigilante committees two years ago, but the measure only increased the violence.

Nor is it clear why the Algerian army, which has large bases in and around the capital and conducts patrols through the region, has never prevented one of the almost nightly massacres. The official statement last night said "new security measures have just been decided", but it did not elaborate.

The government condemned the killings as "heinous acts against the people" and paid tribute to the memory of the victims.

Reuter adds:

The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, breaking his silence on Algeria, yesterday expressed deep regret at the continuing violence.

His statement, issued through a spokesman, said: "The Secretary General deeply regrets the continuing loss of life in Algeria through violence, which has recently escalated to a horrendous level." It continued: "Tolerance and dialogue must prevail over the forces of violence so that the Algerian people can together address the great challenges that face them to build a just and democratic society grounded in respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms."