At least 11 soldiers have been killed in an attack by Islamist militant gunmen west of Algeria’s capital.
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Sixteen jihadists were killed on Sunday in response to Thursday night’s ambush on the Algerian army.
Although the deadly assault, reported Saturday by the local El Khaber newspaper, has not yet been confirmed by the Algerian defense ministry, it was widely circulated on news websites. The militants said France had failed to respond to a demand to drop out of the U.S.-led coalition against IS forces in Iraq and Syria.
Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch claimed responsibility for the attack, putting the toll at 14 and saying it came after army claims that the insurgency had been defeated.
According to the report, the armed ambush was carried out on Friday night as the Eid al-Fitr holidays, marking the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, got underway in the Muslim state. “Immediately after the attack, the area was immediately cordoned off by the army and searched thoroughly, [to] chase these criminals and to destroy their hideouts”, the ministry said in a statement, according to Middle East Eye.
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This is the deadliest attack on Algeria’s army since April 2014, when 15 soldiers were killed in the country’s mountainous east.
