Algeria: Terrorists Bomb School Bus, Supreme Court

(Algiers) For two deadly bombings today, there have been no claims of responsibility yet but it is logical to assume that al-Qaeda is the perpetrator.

The North African contingent, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, has been quite active in bombing people throughout Algeria this year.

At least 45 people are reported to have died and another 40 wounded in two explosions in the Algerian capital, Algiers.

Officials said the first explosion occurred on Tuesday in the heart of the city, near the country's Supreme Court, while a second bomb exploded at the United Nations office in the area of Hydra.

The minister for internal affairs, Yazid Zerhouni said at least one of the blasts was believed to be a suicide bomb attack caused by a small truck bomb. The minister was speaking to US network, 'al-Hurra', which broadcasts in Arabic.

The greatest number of victims are believed to have been students who were travelling on a school bus that was struck by the bomb that exploded in front of the court building in the Ben Aknoun.

It's reported that 30 of the dead were on the school bus adjacent to the Supreme Court building.

Yazid Zerhouni, the Algerian Interior Minister, said that the blasts were just minutes apart.

"The death toll is very high," he said. So far, medical crews said that scores have been injured in today's blasts, and put the death toll for both bombs at 45.

People were seen running through the streets in panic near the Supreme Court, and the wail of police sirens filled the air. Much of the city's central zone, containing its business and diplomatic offices, was cordoned off after the bombs.

The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group was formerly called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.