Vetoes by Russia and China of a U.N. Security Council resolution against Syria marked a "historic day," President Bashar Assad's aide Bouthaina Shaaban told AFP on Wednesday.

"This is a historical day that Russia and China as nations are standing for the people and against injustices," Shaaban said after the veto of the resolution, which had called for "targeted measures" against Syria if Assad's regime pursued its deadly crackdown on protests.

Two Syrian officers were among 18 people killed in a twin suicide bombing at a military academy in Algeria, a diplomat said Sunday.

The Algerian Defense Ministry had said 16 officers and two civilians were killed and 26 people wounded in Friday's attack on the Cherchell military academy, west of Algiers.