At least 52 people have been killed and many others injured in two bomb attacks in Algiers, according to reports from medical and security figures in Algeria. The attacks appear to have been indiscriminate or to have deliberately targeted civilians and civilian objects.
Reports indicate that a school bus carrying students was part of the destruction when the first bomb exploded in front of the Constitutional Court in the area of Ben Aknoun in the Algerian capital.
A second bomb was then detonated in the district of Hydra, close to the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The building was reported to have been partly destroyed and people inside the building are feared to be among the victims.
As yet, it is unclear who carried out these attacks. However, the main Islamist armed group currently active in Algeria, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, claimed responsibility for previous attacks. Bombings on 11 April in Algiers and in September in Batna and Dellys killed at least 87 people.
This group was reported to have changed its name to the al-Qa’ida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb in January this year.
Amnesty International has condemned this morning’s bomb attacks stating that such attacks are absolutely prohibited under international law and show a complete disregard for the most fundamental human right, the right to life.
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