AIN KECHRA, Algeria, Aug. 23 (UPI) — Algeria’s military says it killed two militants during an operation in the country’s northern Skikda province.
Xinhua news agency, quoting the Algerian ministry of defense, reports the clash occurring in the locality of Ain Kechra Saturday night.
The news comes little over a week since two Algerian soldiers perished in a militant ambush in the woods of Colo, in Skikda province. The Algerian military has been engaging in an anti-terrorism operation in the region for several weeks.
Last month, militants killed up to 11 Algerian troops in a forested area of Ain Delfa, 150 miles southeast of the capital Algiers.
Islamic extremist groups are known to operate in the country’s remote mountainous regions, including al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazayer, or “Soldiers of the Caliphate in Algeria,” which split from AQIM and declared allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in September 2014.
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