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Algerian forces kill 7 terrorists east of capital | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The Algerian Defense Ministry says that security forces on a search operation have killed seven Islamist insurgents east of the capital.

A ministry statement carried by the official APS news agency said that the “dangerous terrorist group” was eliminated on Tuesday morning in Boulezazen in the Boumerdes region, 70 kilometers (about 45 miles) east of Algiers.

The statement says security forces recovered five Kalashnikov rifles, a semi-automatic, two sawed-off shotguns and ammunition, medicine and food.

Official statements are only occasionally issued in Algeria’s long battle with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, underscoring the importance of the army operation. AQIM is headquartered in the Kabylie region near Boumerdes, but noted mainly for its reach into the Sahel with kidnappings of westerners and its takeover of parts of northern Mali.