A suicide truck bomber destroyed a coastguards barracks in Algeria today, killing 22 people, residents and hospital sources said, in the second such attack in the Opec member country in as many days.
The blast in the port of Dellys 100km east of Algiers happened less than 48 hours after a suicide bombing in Batna town killed 20 people in an attack seen by the government as a bid to wreck efforts to end 15 years of political violence
"I heard a big blast at about 8 this morning and I found out that it targeted the port of the city," resident Saeed Hamdaoui, 28, said. "Then we heard ambulances."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but the so-called al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb has said it carried out previous such blasts.
North African countries have recently stepped up security coordination to counter armed groups seeking to establish Islamic rule in a region on Europe's southern flank that depends to a large extent on oil and gas exports and tourism.
Al Qaeda commander, Egyptian cleric Ayman al-Zawahri, referred to north Africa in a video broadcast on the Internet in July.
He said there was no single recipe for change but that "force must be an element in the pursuit of change," whether through a military coup, a popular uprising or civil disobedience against corrupt governments.
Witnesses said the Dellys explosion wrecked the wooden barracks, damaged several neighbouring houses and sent shockwaves that shattered window panes in nearby streets.
Soldiers armed with automatic rifles sealed off the immediate vicinity after the attack.
Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem condemned the blast and said such attacks aimed at wrecking peace efforts in Algeria and thereby targeted all Algerians.