2 dead as armed men clash with police east of Algiers

A policeman was killed and another wounded during a clash with armed men in the Kabylie region east of Algiers on Monday, officials said. They said armed men targeted a policeman directing traffic in the centre of Ain El Hammam, in the Tizi Ouzou area. One of the assailants was gunned down by police who lost one man while another officer was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, one official said. Security forces then traded fire for 20 minutes with the assailants who disappared into a crowd, sowing widespread panic. Kabylie and other parts of eastern Algeria have been hit by attacks on security forces by Islamists claiming to be loyal to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the extremist network's north African branch.