Algerian security forces have arrested 12 suspected Islamic militants accused of links to triple bombings last month and other attacks claimed by al Qaeda's north African wing, official media said on Sunday. Authorities arrested one member of the alleged logistical cell within two weeks of the April 11 bombings in Algiers. By following the suspect's testimony, they rounded up 11 others, the APS news agency reported, citing unidentified security officials. It did not indicate when the 11 others were detained. The suspects were also involved in truck bomb attacks on October 30 on two police stations that killed six people, it said.
Security forces seized more than nine tons of nitric acid and a large amount of an ammonia chemical, stored in two garages in the town of Tidjelabine, 30 miles east of the capital, and used for making bombs, the report said. Another stash of explosives and electronic triggers were found near Draa Benkhedda, further east.
Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC, has said it was behind all of the attacks. The militant support network was acting under orders from the group's local leader, Harek Zoheir, also known as Sofiane Fassila, who masterminded these attacks, the radio added. The arrests allowed the seizure of more than 9 tonnes of acid and large quantities of chemical products and electronic components used for remote detonation of bombs, it said. Police also seized products used in making explosives in two garages in Boumerdes province, some 50 km (30 miles) east of the capital Algiers.
Government troops, on alert since the April bombings, have killed 26 militants in the past few days in Boumerdes and neighbouring Tizi Ouzou province, newspaper reports said.