Four killed in bomb attack

Algiers - At least four people were killed and more than 60 injured when a bomb ripped through a crowded market in the El Biar district of Algiers, sending hundreds of shoppers scrambling for safety, according to an official toll. The dead include three women and a 10-year-old boy. Security forces blamed the attack on Islamic extremists. Several Algerian papers reported yesterday that suspected Islamic extremists massacred nine people and kidnapped eight others in the south-east Algiers suburbs of Houaoura and Baraki.