Deadly bombings hit Algerian town
 Security is tight as the rescue operation continues in Bouira |
Eleven people have been killed and 31 injured by twin car bombs near a hotel and a barracks in Bouira, south east of the Algerian capital, state media say.
Witnesses said the blasts went off in quick succession.
The attacks come one day after a car bomb killed 43 people and injured a further 38 at a police college near Boumerdes, east of Algiers.
In recent months Algeria has suffered regular attacks blamed on Islamist insurgents linked to al-Qaeda.
The country has been rebuilding with the help of oil and gas profits after a brutal civil conflict in which Islamist militants led an insurgency against state security forces.
Many recent attacks have happened in the area east and south of Algiers, which borders the mountainous Berber region of Kabylia.
Passenger bus
Wednesday's bombs went off near the Hotel Sofi and the military headquarters in Bouira, which is about 100km (62 miles) from Algiers, state media reported.
The blast at the hotel hit a nearby passenger bus, reports said.
One of the bombs ripped off the front of the military headquarters, and the blasts could be heard in a radius of several hundred metres, witnesses said.
Just a day earlier, a suicide car bomber drove a car packed with explosives into the entrance of a paramilitary police college in Issers, near Boumerdes, about 50km (31 miles) east of Algiers.
 | ATTACKS IN ALGERIA 2007-2008 19 August 2008: 43 killed by suicide bombing outside police college in Issers 10 August 2008: Eight killed by suicide bombing outside police station in Zemmouri 8 June 2008: French engineer and driver killed east of Algiers 5 June 2008: Roadside bomb kills six soldiers east of Algiers January 2008: Suicide bombing kills four policemen in Naciria December 2007: Twin car bombs kill at least 37 including 10 UN staff in Algiers 8 September 2007: 32 die in bombing in Dellys 6 September 2007: 22 die in bombing in Batna July 2007: Suicide bomber targets barracks near Bouira, killing nine April 2007: 33 killed in attacks on government offices and a police station in Algiers |
That attack hit military police recruits who were waiting outside the building before an exam.
The government said 41 of those killed were civilians.
After Tuesday's attacks, Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni said militants were trying to "loosen the net closing around them".
Algeria's government has long said Islamist insurgents are desperately seeking to raise their profile as they are isolated by security forces.
There have been no immediate claims of responsibility for this week's attacks.
Previous bombings have been claimed by the North African branch of al-Qaeda, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Those included twin suicide car bombings in Algiers - one against the offices of the UN - that killed at least 37 people in December.
In recent years, Algeria has been slowly recovering from a conflict that began in 1992 when the army intervened to stop hardline Islamists winning the country's first multi-party elections.
Violence has been greatly reduced since the 1990s, but since last year there have been a series of devastating suicide bombings and several attacks against international targets.
The attacks have largely been claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which was formed from the remnants of Algeria's insurgency and was previously known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat.
Sarkozy renews Afghan commitment
President Nicolas Sarkozy meets French troops
President Sarkozy has pledged France's continued commitment to Afghanistan after visiting French troops and meeting President Hamid Karzai.
He was speaking in Kabul after French troops suffered some of their worst casualties in recent times.
Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 injured in an ambush by Taleban fighters east of the capital, Kabul.
Mr Sarkozy said France was committed to the fight against terrorism, and the mission in Afghanistan would continue.
'Indispensable'
"Even though the toll is so high, you should be proud of what you are doing. The work that you're doing here is indispensable," Mr Sarkozy told his troops.
"We're going to make sure that the means are put in place to ensure that this doesn't happen again." France has 2,600 troops serving in Afghanistan.
The 10 deaths brought to 24 the number of French troops killed in Afghanistan since 2002, the AFP news agency reports.
There was more violence on Afghanistan on Wednesday. A bomb went off in a busy market in the south-eastern province of Khost.
Officials say that in addition about 19 Taleban fighters were killed in two separate clashes in Khost and in the province of Paktia.
Tributes paid
The loss of life is thought to be the heaviest suffered by the French military since 58 paratroopers were killed in Beirut in 1983.
The arrival of Mr Sarkozy, who was accompanied by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Defence Minister Herve Morin, was marked by a flurry of helicopters across Kabul on Wednesday.
|  The cause is just, it is the honour of France and its armies to defend it  Nicolas Sarkozy French president  |
On a brief visit on Wednesday, he saw the mortuary at the French camp in the capital and spoke to injured soldiers who were involved in the battle. He also held talks with President Hamid Karzai.
His message was one of support not just to the troops, but also to the Nato alliance and Mr Karzai, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul.
The French deployment is not popular at home and the decision was made in April to send extra fighting troops to an even more dangerous part of the country, our correspondent adds.
Ambush
The French troops were caught up in fighting that started on Monday in the area of Sarobi, some 50km (30 miles) from Kabul.
 Mr Sarkozy said the troops were killed in "an ambush of extreme violence" |
French defence officials said about 100 soldiers - from France, the US and Afghanistan - were on a reconnaissance mission when bad road conditions forced them to stop their vehicles.
A group of French soldiers was sent ahead on foot to check the terrain, but they were ambushed by Taleban fighters and nine were killed.
A tenth French soldier was killed when his vehicle overturned on the road.
An Afghan intelligence officer told the BBC the troops were ambushed from several directions by heavily armed Taleban and al-Qaeda forces.
The fighting went on for 24 hours and it is understood that reinforcements had to be called in to airlift the troops to safety.
The deaths came amid warnings that insurgents are closing in on Kabul.
The French recently took over control of the Kabul regional command, which includes Sarobi.
US and Poland seal missile deal
The signing of the US and Polish defence agreement
The US and Poland have signed a deal to locate part of the US's controversial missile defence system on Polish soil.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travelled to Warsaw for the ceremony, after 18 months of negotiations.
The deal has angered Russia, which has warned the base could become a target for a nuclear strike.
Washington says the system will protect the US and much of Europe against missile attacks from "rogue elements" in the Middle East such as Iran.
The agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the Polish parliament, was signed by Ms Rice and Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski.
'Aimed at no-one'
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the negotiations had been "tough, but friendly", adding that the deal would make both Poland and the US more secure.
| INTERCEPTOR MISSILES  Look like ordinary missiles, but warheads are not loaded Intended to destroy target with kinetic energy Closing speed at interception is 24,000km/h (15,000mph) |
Ms Rice said the signing of the document was an extraordinary occasion, adding that the agreement would help Nato, Poland and the US respond to "the threats of the 21st Century".
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the presidential palace in Warsaw, she emphasised that the missile system was "defensive and aimed at no-one".
While Washington believes placing 10 interceptor missiles on a disused military base near Poland's Baltic Sea coast will protect much of Nato against possible long-range attacks, Warsaw sees threats much closer to home, says the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw.
That is why it demanded - in exchange for hosting the base - short-range Patriot missiles for its own air defences and a guarantee that the US will come to its assistance in the event of an attack, our correspondent adds.
Moscow infuriated
The demands had delayed the deal's completion, but the conflict in Georgia gave the negotiations more impetus, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas, who is travelling with Ms Rice.
Both the US and Poland say the system is not aimed against Russia.
But the agreement has infuriated Moscow, our correspondent adds.
Russia's deputy chief of general staff, Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said last week the plans for a missile base in Poland "could not go unpunished".
For Poland this is sheer folly to become a pawn in the battle between the US and Russia
"It is a cause for regret that at a time when we are already in a difficult situation, the American side further exacerbates the situation in relations between the United States and Russia," he said.
Moscow has argued the project will upset the military balance in Europe and has warned it will be forced to redirect its missiles at Poland.
But Polish President Lech Kaczynski stressed the missile defence shield was purely a defensive system and not a threat.
"For that reason, no-one who has good intentions towards us and towards the Western world should be afraid of it," he said on Wednesday.
Before the conflict in Georgia there was a reasonable amount of popular opposition in Poland to the missile defence deal.
But new surveys show that for the first time a majority of Poles support it, with 65% expressing fear of Russia.
Hitting a bullet
The interceptors look like ordinary missiles, stored in silos, with highly automated warheads that are not loaded with any explosives.
 The agreement was signed by Condoleezza Rice and Radek Sikorski |
If fired, the missile is intended to home in on and destroy its target, above the atmosphere, due to the kinetic energy of the collision.
But the closing speed of interceptor and target will be 24,000km/h (15,000mph), making the task more difficult than hitting a bullet with another bullet.
The US has spent more than $100bn (£54bn) in the last two decades on its controversial project to develop defences against ballistic missiles.
Critics say that, despite all that money, the Pentagon still has not proved the system can work in realistic conditions.
Last month, the US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base tracking radars there as part of the defence system.
Washington wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.
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