Algerian PM Vows to Eradicate Terrorism

Algeria's prime minister vowed on Sunday to eradicate terrorism, a day after a suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden car into a police station in the remote Algerian desert.

Twenty-three people were injured and the attacker killed in Saturday's blast in Tamanrasset, 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) south of Algiers, in what was the first attack of its kind in that part of the country.

The fight against terrorism "will be pursued until it is eradicated," Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said.

It wounded 15 police officers, five civil protection agents and three passers-by, the Algerian defense ministry said.

Tamanrasset is home to a joint task force operated by Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger to coordinate the fight against a number of armed groups including Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Saturday's attack was claimed by the so-called Movement for Monotheism and Jihad in West Africa, a splinter group of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghbreb.

The group came to light after claiming responsibility for the kidnappings of three Europeans from western Algeria in December 2011.

Abdelaziz Ziari, president of Algeria's national assembly, called on Algerians to mobilize against "those who want to undermine their country" and senate president Abdelkader Bensalah called the attack cowardly.