53 Algerian villagers massacred

Algiers - Fifty-three villagers were massacred on Saturday by an armed group, the evening newspaper, Le Soir d'Algerie, said yesterday. The victims, mainly women and children, had their throats slit in Guelb el-Kebir south of Algiers. Algeria has been hit by a wave of massacres since an Islamist insurrection against the military-backed government started in 1992 after it cancelled elections.