A 64-year-old cancer patient and another man, both of whom had been convicted on terror charges but amnestied, were the suicide bombers who struck UN and government buildings in Algeria this week, a security official said on Thursday. The death toll rose to 34.
The older man was imprisoned in the 1990s and his 32-year-old fellow bomber had been recently released, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The government has offered successive amnesties to try to end an Islamic insurgency that raged in the 1990s, resulting in thousands of militants turning themselves in, but sparking fierce criticism from the families of terror victims.
Al-Qaeda's self-styled North African branch has claimed responsibility for the twin truck bombings on Tuesday. Victims included UN staff from around the world, police officers and law students.
In a posting on a militant Web site, al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa described the UN offices as "the headquarters of the international infidels' den." It also posted photos of two men it said were the bombers. Both posed with weapons and wore camouflage, with the younger man smiling.
The Algerian security official identified the bomber of the UN offices as Chebli Brahim, 64, and said he was in the advanced stages of cancer. Brahim had two sons who were also Islamic militants and were killed in crackdowns by Algeria's army, the official said.
The other bomber was identified as Charef Larbi, a 32-year-old from a poor suburb of the capital that has produced many militants, the official said. He was arrested and sent to prison in 2004.
Upon Larbi's release last year, he went into hiding with militants in Algeria's scrubland, the official said.
Islamic insurgents have been battling Algeria's government for 15 years, but have largely focused on symbols of Algeria's military-backed government and civilians. The strike against the UN office signaled a change in tactic.
The Interior Ministry on Thursday raised the death toll in the truck bombings to 34 from 31, saying in a statement that three more bodies had been found at the UN building.
There has been confusion about the death toll for days: A national official at the civil protection agency said on Wednesday that 45 people were killed, and soon after the bombings, a doctor said at least 60 were killed. The government has insisted it has no reason to conceal the full toll.
The bombing of the UN building was the deadliest single attack against UN staff and facilities since August 2003, when the world body's headquarters in Baghdad was hit by a truck laden with explosives. That attack killed 22 people, including the top UN envoy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and was blamed on a group that later affiliated with al-Qaeda.
Algeria's insurgency broke out in the early 1990s, when the army canceled the second round of the country's first multiparty elections to prevent likely victory by an Islamic fundamentalist party. Islamist armed groups then turned to force to overthrow the government, with up to 200,000 people killed in the ensuing violence.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS