16 killed in Algerian attacks

In Bougara, south of the capital, three people died and five were seriously injured after a bomb exploded in a local cafe. Another bomb in Algiers claimed the life of a 20-year-old woman, while a civilian was shot dead in the town of Sidi Daoud, east of the capital.

Massacres, bombings and murders blamed on Islamic extremists have raged on in Algeria since 1992 when the army cancelled elections which the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front was set to win.

Over 60,000 have died in the violence, according to Western estimates, although the government puts the toll at nearly 27,000.