Algiers - a total of 74 Algerian villagers were killed in a new series of massacres in the Blida and Ain-defla regions at the weekend, local residents and other concordant sources said yesterday.
The killings came within hours of a call by President Liamine Zeroual for public "vigilance" in the wake of a series of bloody massacres attributed to Islamic extremists which have left more than 600 dead in the last two months.