Algiers: Fourteen people were killed and 60 injured in Algeria today in a suicide bombing apparently aimed at President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, local security sources said. The bomber was part of the crowd awaiting a visit by the head of state in the eastern city of Batna.

Witnesses said he was discovered by members of the crowd and let off the explosives he was carrying before the president arrived.  Bouteflika was informed of the attack and went to the hospital where the victims were being treated. In July, 10 soldiers were killed and 35 people wounded when a suicide bomber rammed a truck packed with explosives into a barracks southeast of Algiers.

Some 50 people, including 28 militants, have been killed in Islamist-related violence in Algeria since the beginning of June alone, according to AFP figures based on official statements and newspaper reports. Two car bomb attacks on April 11 killed 33 people and injured more than 220 in Algiers.