Six people had their throats slit when they were stopped at a roadblock by suspected armed Islamic militants in the Aures mountains, the daily El Khabar reported Saturday.
The Islamic militants, in combat gear and using roadsigns, blocked the road on a bend near Theniet el Abed, around 65 kilometres (40 miles) from Batna, in the heart of the mountain region, which is around 450 kilometres southeast of the capital.
They stopped around 70 travelers, exhorting money from them and holding them for several hours. Those they murdered were a gendarmerie police officer and five local militiamen, the paper said.
At least 100,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Algeria's civil war since 1992 when the army interrupted elections that the now outlawed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was certain to win.
Islamic guerrillas fighting the secular authorities have frequently terrorized and killed people at roadblocks modeled on those set up by the security forces -- ALGIERS (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
