A bomb exploded beside a bus carrying foreign oil workers in an upscale Algiers suburb on Sunday, killing the Algerian driver and wounding nine people, including four Britons and an American, authorities said.
The bombing, the first armed attack on expatriates in years, took place in a heavily protected neighborhood.
"I was in a bus when I heard a big explosion. Then we heard gunfire," Mohammed Aziouz, an 18-year-old student traveling in another bus nearby at the time, told reporters.
"A moment passed. And then police wearing `ninja' balaclava hoods entered our bus and started checking identity papers. Those who didn't have them were taken out for verification. The smell of [explosive] powder was very intense," he said.
Some expatriate oil executives said they would step up security as a result of the late afternoon attack in the Bouchaoui district, 10km west of Algiers.
The official APS news agency described the blast as a roadside bomb. APS said the wounded were four Britons, two Lebanese, an American, an Algerian and a Canadian. All but one were released from hospital after treatment.
Most of the employees were in a bus following behind a security vehicle. The assailants hurled a bomb at the first vehicle, immediately killing the driver, security officials said.
Attackers then opened fire on the second bus, which quickly turned around and left before the gunmen dispersed, witnesses said.
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