Bomb explodes in Algerian town-residents

ALGIERS, Sep 6 (Reuters) A bomb exploded today in the Algerian town of Batna, 430 km southeast of the capital Algiers, residents said.

They said they had heard unconfirmed reports of casualties.

Conflict broke out in Algeria in 1992 after military-backed authorities scrapped parliamentary elections that an Islamist party was set to win. The authorities had feared an Islamic revolution.

Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed in 15 years of violence.

Political violence has subsided in recent years but a hard core of about 500 rebels, now grouped in the so-called al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, continues to fight mainly in the Kabylie region east of the capital Algiers.

REUTERS PDT KP2310