Algerian army kills eight militants

Algerian army Friday killed eight militants, including seven near its border with Tunisia, and seized a large amount of ammunition suspected for planning a terrorist attack, the media reported.

"Detachments from the army killed on Friday at around 1 p.m. (GMT) seven armed militants in the locality of El Khenigue, in the province of Tebessa," some 500 km east of the capital Algiers, Xinhua quoted the Algerian defence ministry as saying.

The army troops seized seven Kalashnikov rifles, two vehicles, 3,500 cartridges of different calibres, grenades, as well as means of communication and night vision, the ministry said, adding the militants were setting up an ambush.

Reports said the militants intruded from neighbouring Tunisia, and attempted to take refuge in the Boudjelal mountains before being surrounded and killed.

Earlier, the army also killed a militant in the locality of Aghrib, in the province of Tizi-Ouzou, some 100 km east of Algiers.

Algeria has deployed more troops on its eastern border amid increasing terror threat in western Tunisia and Libya.