Tag: Algeria

Algeria battles wildfires that have killed 34

By AFP correspondent with Abdellah Cheballah in Alger Agence France-Presse TOUDJA, Algeria (AFP) — Algerian firefighters on Tuesday battled blazes that have killed 34 people across the tinder-dry north, destroyed homes and coastal resorts, and turned vast forest areas into blackened wastelands. Witnesses described fleeing walls of flames that raged “like a blowtorch”. TV footage showed charred cars, burned-out shops and smoldering fields. Severe fires have raged through the mountain forests of the Kabylia region […]

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Baby’s body found on Spain beach from migrant shipwreck: police

BARCELONA, July 18, 2023 (AFP) – A baby’s body that washed up on a Spanish beach last week is that of the eight-month-old girl from a shipwreck that killed all 15 migrants aboard, police said Tuesday. The boat carrying the infant and her parents along with 12 others left northern Algeria on March 21 and sank off Spain’s Balearic islands in the Mediterranean on April 6, Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said on a statement. […]

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Algeria car crash kills 16, mostly migrants

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) – Sixteen passengers died and another three were injured, mostly sub-Saharan Africans, on Monday when two pickup trucks collided in southern Algeria, rescue services and local media reported. The accident took place on a highway in the country’s desert south, the civil protection agency said on Facebook. Out of the 16 victims, 14 were from African countries further south and two were Algerians, according to local media, which said the accident took place […]

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France’s Macron announces ‘new page’ in Algeria ties

by Valerie LEROUX Agence France-Presse ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced a “new page” in ties with Algeria on Thursday, the first day of a three-day visit aimed at mending ties with the former French colony months after it marked 60 years of independence. Macron’s office said his visit aims to “lay a foundation to rebuild and develop” a sometimes difficult relationship with the North African nation after a particularly tense few […]

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Nine killed in gas explosion in east Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — Nine people were killed and 16 others injured in a gas explosion in eastern Algeria which caused a three-storey building to collapse on Thursday, national television said. Rescue workers were searching the rubble in the town of Bordj Bou Arreridj for possible victims or survivors, local authorities said, adding that neighboring houses had been damaged. The explosion, which occurred in the morning, “was caused by a gas leak”, a local official […]

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Two injured as quake rocks Algeria port city

  ALGIERS, ALgeria (AFP) — An earthquake rocked the Algerian port city of Bejaia Saturday injuring two people, emergency services said. The 5.2 magnitude quake hit shortly before 11 am (1000 GMT), with its epicentre offshore 10 kilometres (six miles) under the Mediterranean seabed, according to the US Geological Survey. Two people were injured in the mainly Berber-speaking city, in the Kabylie region some 240 kilometres (150 miles) east of the capital Algiers, emergency services […]

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Algeria accuses Morocco of ‘assassinating’ civilians in W.Sahara

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) – Algeria’s special envoy for the Western Sahara on Sunday accused Morocco of “assassinations targeting civilians” outside its “internationally recognised borders”, following a recent drone attack in the disputed territory, state media reported. Moroccan authorities “carry out acts of war… and commit extrajudicial assassinations targeting civilians” in the Western Sahara, Amar Belani said, quoted by the official APS news agency. Alleged attacks have been undertaken “using sophisticated weapon systems outside (Morocco’s) internationally […]

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Organic farmers find fertile ground in Tunis

by Kaouther Larbi and Françoise Kadri with AFP bureaus in Rabat and Algeria Agence France-Presse TUNIS, Tunisia (AFP) – Proudly displaying her freshly picked pomegranates, Tunisian farmer Sarah Shili says going organic is “the future of farming” — and as demand surges in North Africa and beyond, the sector is blooming. Shili runs Domaine Elixir Bio, a 94-hectare (230-acre) farm near Tunis that produces organic-certified vegetable, fruit and cereal crops in a way she said […]

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Algerian president demands ‘total respect’ from France

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday demanded France’s “total respect”, following a row over visas and critical comments from Paris about the North African country. Last weekend Algeria recalled its ambassador from Paris and banned French military planes from its airspace, which France regularly uses to reach its forces battling jihadists in the Sahel region to the south. The moves came after a bitter row over visas, followed by media reports that French President Emmanuel […]

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Algeria begins Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine production

CONSTANTINE, Algeria (AFP) — Algeria on Wednesday started producing the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese firm Sinovac, with production expected to be eight million doses a month. Prime Minister Aimene Benabderrahmane, who attended the launch of the production process at a factory in the eastern city of Constantine, called it a “big achievement”. Production could be doubled in the North African nation if needed, officials said. “Algeria… aims to achieve other projects of this kind,” […]

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More than 60 now arrested over Algeria fires lynching

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — Algerian police Tuesday announced another 25 arrests over the lynching of a man falsely accused of starting deadly forest fires last week, taking the total number of suspects to 61. The latest arrests were made in several provinces across the country, police said in a statement, adding that the suspects were also accused of damaging public and police property. The victim, Djamel Ben Ismail, 38, had turned himself in at a […]

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Algeria mourns 69 dead as Mediterranean wildfires spread

by Yacine Benrabia with Abdelhafid Daamache in Algiers TIZI OUZOU, Algeria (AFP) — The death toll climbed to at least 69 as firefighters, soldiers and civilian volunteers battled blazes in forests across northern Algeria on Wednesday, in the latest wildfires to sweep the Mediterranean. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning starting from Thursday, and authorities say they suspect widespread arson after so many fires erupted in such a short space of time. […]

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