Nine members of a private security firm were killed when rebels attacked their base near Jijel in eastern Algeria, witnesses and local journalists said on Monday. Three other guards were wounded in the attack on the building used by private security company Spas late Sunday in the town of Ziama Mansouriah, around 360 kilometers (225 miles) east of the capital Algiers, they said.The attack took place in the mountainous region of Kabylie where Algerian security forces have been battling al-Qaeda's north African wing, which has claimed responsibility for a string of bombings in the OPEC member country in recent years.
There was no immediate confirmation of the attack by the authorities.
Sunday's attack is the worst in the past six months in Algeria, and follows a spate of deadly assaults on military and civilians in the east of the country over the past month.
Two roadside bombs killed seven people near Algeria's border with Tunisia on Feb. 12, hours after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he would stand for a third term in office. Days later, an Algerian newspaper said Islamic rebels had killed eight soldiers in two separate attacks.
The North African country goes to the polls to elect a new president on April 9, with the incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika seeking an unprecedented third term.
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