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2 truck bombs explode

At least 26 die in the suicide attacks on U.N. offices and an Algerian government building.

ALGIERS, Algeria - Two truck bombs set off in quick succession sheered off the fronts of U.N. offices and a government building in Algeria's capital Tuesday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 177 in attacks claimed by an affiliate of al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, in a posting on a militant Web site, called the U.N. offices "the headquarters of the international infidels' den." A U.N. official said at least 11 of its employees died.

The bombs exploded 10 minutes apart about 9:30 a.m., devastating the U.N. refugee agency and other U.N. offices along a street in the upscale Hydra neighborhood.

The bombs also hit Algeria's Constitutional Council, which rules on the constitutionality of laws and oversees elections.

The attacks came on the month's 11th day, a number rich in symbolism both for Algerians and for al-Qaida, and drew swift international condemnation.

"It was horror," said Mohammed Faci, 23, whose arm was broken by the blast as he rode a bus.

The targeting of U.N. offices was a new development in the 15-year war between Algeria's secular government and Islamic insurgents, who previously focused their hate on symbols of the military-backed administration and civilians.

Al-Qaida's self-styled North African branch's Web posting said two suicide bombers attacked the buildings with trucks carrying 1,760 pounds of explosives each.

Images were provided of the two "martyrs," identified as Ibrahim Abu Uthman and Abdul Rahman Abu Abdul Nasser Al-Aassemi.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni said the Algerian government was certain that al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa - formerly known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat - "was behind the attack."

Counterterrorism officials in Algeria's former colonial ruler, France, say the group is drawing members from across North Africa. Al-Qaida has been urging attacks on French and Spanish interests in North Africa.

Tuesday's date - Dec. 11 - suggested an Islamic terror link. Al-Qaida has struck on the 11th in several countries, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Tuesday's attack killed 26 people, an Interior Ministry statement said. It said the dead included two U.N. staffers - one Danish, the other Senegalese - as well as three people from Asia whose nationalities were not given. Another 177 people were injured, of whom 26 were hospitalized, the ministry said.

Other sources said the toll was higher. An official at the civil protection agency who spoke on condition of anonymity said 45 people were killed. A doctor at a hospital who said he was in contact with staff at other hospitals put the toll at a minimum of 60.

World leaders roundly condemned the attack, with President Bush extending condolences for those killed. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned the attacks as "barbarity" and said that while Algeria had made great progress in fighting terrorism, "the sordid beast is not yet dead."

FAST FACTS

Attacks on the 11th

Car bombs in Algeria on Tuesday were the latest in a string of terror attacks to come on the 11th of a month. Here is a list:

Sept. 11, 2001: Al-Qaida terattacks kill 2,973 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

April 11, 2002: A suicide bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia kills 21, mostly German tourists.

March 11, 2004: Train bombings in Madrid, Spain, kill 191 people and wound more than 1,800.

Nov. 9, 2005: The date is Sept. 11 in the day-first, month-second system widely used in Europe and the Arab world: Hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan, kill 60 people.

March 11, 2007: A Moroccan blows himself up in an Internet cafe in Casablanca, Morocco, after the owner catches him surfing jihadist Web sites.

April 11, 2007: Car bombings target a government building housing the prime minister's office in central Algiers and a police station on the outskirts of the capital, killing 33 people.

Dec. 11 in Algeria

Dec. 11 is a date with heavy significance in Algeria. Dec. 11, 1960, was a turning point in the war for independence from France. Huge pro-independence protests broke out that day during a visit by France's president. Algerians mark the anniversary every year.

[Last modified December 12, 2007, 01:18:00]