Algerian military clashes with Islamists

The Algerian military has reportedly clashed with Islamist militants in the eastern region of Batna.

Five soldiers and ten militants have been killed, with Reuters citing reports in the local daily papers Liberte, Echourouk and El Khabar.

Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) took part in the attacks after reportedly changing its name to Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

The group claimed responsibility for several attacks in Algeria last year, with foreign oil workers killed in a bus attack, Reuters said.

According to the BBC, Algerian military officials have put up posters calling for information and encouraging locals to engage in the fight against the radical Islamists.

The conflict began in 1992 after an Islamic party looked set to win an election which was subsequently cancelled.

The party is now banned and violence had subsided in recent years, with only a fraction of the number of fighters from the 1990s now part of the militancy.