Islamic militants killed four Algerian policemen in an ambush after the expiry of an amnesty for rebels aimed at ending years of strife, a newspaper reported today.
Five other policemen were injured in the rebel attack outside the coastal town of Bejaia, 250 km east of Algiers, last night, independent daily Liberte said.
The authorities were not immediately available for comment.
The al Qaeda-aligned Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) has said it was opposed to laying down its arms in exchange for an amnesty that ended on August 31st.
The amnesty, which took effect on February 28th, gave rebels six months to surrender and win immunity from prosecution provided they had not committed massacres, rape or bombings of public places.
Up to 300 guerrillas have surrendered since the measure came into force, according to the authorities. But experts estimate several hundred more die-hard rebels are still fighting.
Local newspapers speculated that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika would extend the amnesty to give more rebels the chance to give themselves up. Under the amnesty, 2,200 former Islamist rebels captured in the fighting have been freed from prison and members of the security forces were given blanket immunity from prosecution for any wrongdoing committed during the conflict.
The insurgency cost the lives of 200,000 people since it broke out in 1992 when the authorities cancelled parliamentary elections that a now-banned radical Islamist party was poised to win. The level of violence has fallen sharply in recent years.