21 Killed, 20 Hurt In Train Explosion

A mine exploded under a moving passenger train in Algeria on Friday, killing at least 21 people and injuring 20.

It was the latest in a series of attacks blamed by authorities on Muslim insurgents trying to disrupt upcoming legislative elections.

The 8 a.m. blast near near Gue de Constantine, 10 miles south of the capital, destroyed the side of one rail car and partially derailed the train.

Security forces said a homemade bomb hidden under the tracks caused the explosion. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The train runs between Algiers and Blida, about 30 miles south. Insurgents have a foothold in the area around Blida, the site of Algeria’s most important army garrison and several recent massacres.

A rebellion aimed at toppling the government has been under way since the army canceled a January 1992 parliamentary vote to stop the rise to power of the now-banned Islamic Salvation Front. At least 60,000 people have died in the fighting.

The June voting will be the first parliamentary elections since then. Parties based on religion are barred from the contest.

The bombing came the same day Air Algerie resumed flights to Paris after a two-year hiatus. France, Algeria’s former colonial ruler, canceled flights after Muslim insurgents hijacked an Air France plane on Christmas 1994 and killed three people.

The Armed Islamic Group, which claimed responsibility for the hijacking and several deadly bomb attacks in France in 1995-96, said it wanted to punish Paris for its aid to the Algerian regime.