Islamic militants kill five in Algeria

ALGIERS, Jan 30 (Reuters) Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants opened fire on a military checkpoint in eastern Algeria, killing four soldiers and a municipal guard, newspapers reported today.

The attack took place yesterday in the province of Batna, some 430 kilometres east of the capital Algiers, newspapers Liberte, Echourouk and El Khabar said.

Around 20 members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) took part in the attack and 10 of them were killed when security forces struck back, said Liberte.

Government officials were not immediately available for comment.

The attack came a week after a Web site used by Islamic militants said the GSPC had changed its name to Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb after receiving approval from Osama bin Laden. The statement was signed by the GSPC but could not be verified.

The group claimed responsibility for several attacks in Algeria last year, including the bombing of bus carrying foreign oil workers in December. Two people were killed in the attack, the first on expatriates in Algeria for years.

Civil conflict erupted in 1992 when authorities cancelled legislative elections a now-banned Islamic party was poised to win.

The violence had subsided in recent years and an estimated 500 fighters are now thought to be involved in the insurgency, led mainly by the GSPC, compared to 30,000 in the 1990s.

But some security analysts say the GSPC is trying to transform itself from a domestic movement in Algeria into an international militant force capable of striking in both North Africa and Europe.

REUTERS SSC BST1819