Two bomb blasts in Algeria kill seven: report
Hours after president announced he will run for new term
Two bomb blasts in eastern Algeria killed seven people in the hours after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he will run for a new term, APS news agency quoted security sources as saying Friday.
Four members of the same family, including two women and a baby, were killed by the first bomb, which exploded in Foum El-Metlag, as their van passed by late Thursday.
The second exploded moments later when emergency services and security forces arrived. A local official was also badly wounded, APS said. The attack took place outside the town of Tebessa near the border with Tunisia.
The Tebessa region, near the Tunisian border some 630 kilometers (400 miles) east of Algiers and 200 kilometers from the coast, has been largely spared the violence blamed on militants which has wracked Algeria for years.
Security services said the attack was also unusual in targeting civilians.
Most attacks have focused on security force personnel or public buildings within 100 kilometers of the capital, where the north African branch of al-Qaeda is active.
Another presidential term
Bouteflika, 72 next month, announced Thursday he will run for a third term in April 9 elections he is tipped as certain to win.
He said he would stand as an "independent," pursue his policy of national reconciliation and "fight against terrorism with all necessary means" while leaving the door open to those who "repent."
Bouteflika is credited with helping to end a decade-long civil war that killed around 150,000 people following the 1992 cancellation of elections that an Islamic party had been poised to win.
Bouteflika proposed an amnesty for rebels who laid down their arms and twice secured public endorsement for his plans towards "national reconciliation" through referendums, but sporadic violence persists.