Ten people including a woman of French origin have been killed by Islamic extremists in the latest violence in Algeria, AFP reported, quoting press reports Wednesday.
Killers scaled a wall to enter the villa of 61-year-old retired teacher Marlene Guiterez and her Algerian husband Mohamed Boumchida, 67, a local council member, on Sunday evening in Kolea, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Algiers, the reports said, adding that both were shot dead.
The last foreigners to be killed by Islamic extremists in Algeria were four Russians slain in January this year near Annaba, some 600 kilometers (370 miles) east of the capital, said AFP.
Also Sunday, six youths had their throats slit in Djenane el Anab, a village near Skikda, 500 kilometers (300 miles) east of Algiers.
The victims were in a shop drinking coffee when about 40 men came in wearing uniforms. When four of the youths told them they had recently completed their military service, the assailants killed all six of them, slitting their throats.
The attackers then told the other customers that they were members of the hard-line Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and that they had seized their fatigues and weapons in an attack on soldiers in the same area in October, the paper said.
Also Sunday, two soldiers were killed at a fake checkpoint near Batna, some 430 kilometers (265 miles) southeast of Algiers, press reports said.
Reports said Saturday that four Algerians shepherds were killed in two separate attacks carried out by armed men, suspected to be Islamic extremists.
Al-khabar newspaper reported that a shepherd was shot dead during the first attack that was targeted against a group of young shepherds who were selling their flock for Eid Al-Adha.
Three others, according to the paper, were slaughtered about four kilometers away from where the first attack took place.
Reports said that more than 500 people were killed, including civilians, security members, and extremists, since the start of this year - Albawaba.com
