Four wounded in attack on Algerian patrol claimed by Daesh

ALGIERS: Gunmen attacked an Algerian military patrol in an area south of the capital, slightly wounding four gendarmes, the Ministry of Defense said, in an attack later claimed by Daesh.
Attacks are rare in Algeria since the end of the country’s 1990s civil war with militants, but Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and small brigades allied to Daesh are active in remote areas.
Gunmen opened fire on the gendarmerie patrol late on Wednesday in Larbaa area in Blida region, around 30 km south of Algiers, the ministry said in a statement carried on APS state news agency.
“A patrol of gendarmerie were targetted by gunfire on Wednesday at 2200 by a group of terrorists,” the statement said without giving details on any militant group.
Daesh-affiliated Amaq agency said on Thursday its fighters ambushed the patrol and clamed to have destroyed two vehicles, according to the SITE militant monitoring service.
Algerian armed forces have been cracking down on militants tied to Daesh. In April, they foiled an attempted suicide bomb attack in the northeastern city of Constantine, with one attacker killed and a second arrested.
Militants have carried out or attempted several attacks on security targets in Constantine in the past few months including the shooting of a policeman in a coffee-house by three gunmen in October 2016.
In another development, Algeria has agreed to allow 41 Syrian refugees stranded on its frontier with Morocco to stay in the country as a humanitarian gesture, the foreign ministry said.
Earlier this week the UN High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) urged Morocco and Algeria to allow the group safe passage after they had been trapped for weeks in a dispute between the North African neighbors.
In a statement on APS state news agency, Algeria’s Foreign Ministry said the refugees, including children and a pregnant woman, would be allowed to stay after being blocked in the border town of Figuig.
Morocco and Algeria blamed each other for the situation.
The two countries often exchange diplomatic barbs over their 1,500-km frontier, which stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sahara Desert. It has been shut since 1994 because of disputes over security.
Morocco said the Syrians attempted to enter Morocco through Figuig between April 17 and 19.
It accused Algeria of forcing them to cross into Morocco. Algeria rejected the accusation, saying Moroccan officials had tried to send the group into Algeria.