Algiers - Twenty-two people were killed and more than 100 wounded yesterday when a bomb ripped through a market in western Algeria, security services and witnesses contacted by telephone reported.
The attack occurred around 5.10 p.m. (4.10 p.m. Irish time) during the weekly market in the village of Zaroura, near the town of Tiaret, about 150 miles southwest of the capital Algiers.
Witnesses put the number of injured at 107, including a large number of children, while the security services said seven of them were in a serious condition.
The blast happened after the second Friday prayers, when the market was crowded with people. Witnesses spoke of fragments of bodies mingled with the produce on sale.
The latest attack brought to some 60 the number of people killed in the past week in violent incidents in Algeria.