Al-Qaida shows off its Algeria activities

ALGIERS, Algeria, April 12 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida's threat is growing in Algeria as it boasted Thursday about its violent activities a day after bomb attacks killed dozens in the capital.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (North Africa) said in a statement it has carried out nine attacks in Algeria since the beginning of the month, including three bombings in Algiers Wednesday, which it claimed killed at least 53 people and injured many more.

The claim conflicts with those of the Algerian authorities, which said two attacks -- one targeting the prime minister's office and the other a police station -- killed 33 people and injured 57 others. But al-Qaida said its operatives used two booby-trapped trucks, each loaded with 700 kilograms of explosives, and slammed into the government building, while a third truck with 500 kilograms of explosives targeted the police station.

Whether two or three bombs were used, the extremist group is clearly escalating its threats against the North African country, which has recently taken a several-year break from a violent Islamic insurgency against the government that killed 200,000 people during the 1990s.

In its statement, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb outlined in detail nine "successful" attacks using bombs and firearms since the beginning of April that specifically targeted the military and security services. Since the group in January changed its name from the Salafist Group for Call and Combat to an al-Qaida affiliate, violence has resurged in the country, threatening to return the country to instability.