Bouteflika

Algeries president Abdelaziz Bouteflika skulle besøke byen Batna torsdag. I den ventende mengden sto en person med en spesiell gave i en plastpose. Folk forsto hva han hadde forberedt, men mannen kom dem i forkjøpet: 15 ble drept og 74 såret.

The attacker was part of a crowd awaiting a visit by the president in the centre of Batna. Witnesses quoted by national television said the bomb was hidden in a plastic bag.

The attacker was discovered by the crowd and set off the bomb before the president arrived, the report said. Panic set into the crowd after the explosion.

Authorities did not immediately confirm whether the suicide bomber was among the dead. No details were given immediately about the identity of the attacker.

It was the closest that a militant attack has come to the president.

Bouteflika was immediately informed and immediately visited survivors of the attack at the main hospital in Batna. He later went to the scene of the explosion where supporters were waiting.

AP