Six soldiers and six suspected Islamic militants were killed during fighting in a forest in western Algeria, a newspaper reported Saturday. Several other soldiers were injured in the Tuesday clash in the Stamboul forest, El Watan newspaper reported, without giving a number. Another paper, Al Fadjr, said the military forces had been hunting down an armed Islamic group suspected of killing three security agents. The clash was the latest bloodshed in a 10-year Islamic insurgency that has taken more than 120,000 lives in Algeria. The insurgency started after the army canceled legislative elections that an Islamic party was poised to win. Trying to restore order, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika offered amnesty to rebels willing to turn in their guns. Many accepted, but some hid out in the mountains and continued the campaign of violence. The Islamic radicals are trying to topple the military-backed government.
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