Tripoli, 20 May:
A group of people described as terrorists by the Algerian . . .[restrict]Press Service were arrested on Saturday in the Algerian town of Bir El Ater, 90 kilometres south of Tebessa and near the Tunisian border. According to the security forces who made the arrests, the group said they were planning to head to Libya. There was said to be a “significant number” in the group. They were armed with Kalashnikovs.
A source with the Algerian security forces said that the militants had told their captors they were heading to Libya via Bir Alatir and El-Oued after fleeing their hideout in the town of Khenchela. It had been besieged for several days by the security Forces having been discovered during a military sweep of the area which started 11 days ago.
The source said that the authorities believed that those arrested were the same group who had clashed with the Algerian security forces in the Khenchela some days ago. [/restrict]
