Two Algerian soldiers have been killed and 17 wounded in a clash with Islamist rebels east of Algiers, a security source said on Monday. It was the first reported death of security force members in Algerian political violence for more than a month. Gunmen opened fire at an army patrol conducting a search on Sunday near the Mediterranean coastal town of Jijel 300 km (190 miles), from the capital, following reports that rebels were planning a suicide attack on a naval base in the area, the source said. The gunmen were believed to belong to the al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the source said. On Feb. 7 suspected Islamist rebels killed eight paramilitary gendarmes in an ambush some 500 km (300 miles) southeast of Algiers. Violence broke out in Algeria in 1992 after the military-backed authorities scrapped a parliamentary election that an Islamist political party was set to win. Up to 200,000 people were killed in the ensuing bloodshed.