Five people were killed and three wounded Sunday and Monday in the latest violence in Algeria, media reports said Tuesday.
A couple were killed Monday in their home at Azzaba, 500 kilometers (322 miles) east of Algiers, by a group of armed Islamic fundamentalists, the daily paper El Watan reported.
The leader of a civilian defense group in the village of Bouidel, 50 kilometers (32 miles) east of the Algerian capital, was killed the same day by an armed group at a fake roadblock.
He was shot in front of his son who managed to escape, newspapers reported.
On Sunday two fundamentalists were killed and three wounded in clashes with security forces at Mechrasfa, 340 kilometers (212 miles) west of Algiers, according to media reports.
The death toll from the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which this year began at the end of November, is at least 330, according to press reports.
Islamic groups opposed to the secular state consider Ramadan particularly auspicious for "jihad", or holy war.
More than 100,000 people have died since fundamentalists took up arms after the army intervened in January 1992 to call off the second round of general elections that an Islamic group was poised to win -- ALGIERS (AFP)
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