Algerian Army Kills 2 Armed Islamists

The Algerian military has killed two armed Islamists who had been active for more than 20 years, the defense ministry announced Thursday.

The two "dangerous terrorists" were killed in an ambush late Tuesday in the Jijel region, around 300 kilometers (180 miles) east of Algiers, it said on its website.

In the 1990s when Islamist violence rocked the country, Jijel was a stronghold of armed groups locked in a battle with authorities that cost a total of 200,000 lives.

The two men killed in the ambush were named as Nefla Nouredine, an emir, or commander, and his deputy Bouhnika Abdelouahab who had joined the insurgency in 1994, according to the ministry.

It says more than 60 Islamists have been killed in clashes so far this year, and around 100 in 2014.