Algerian army kills three militants near capital

Algerian soldiers killed three Islamist militants and seized guns and explosives southwest of the Algerian capital on Tuesday, the defense ministry said.

“During anti-terrorist operations, an army unit killed three terrorists today after an attempted ambush in the Tagrara area" 150 kilometers (90 miles) from Algiers, it said in a statement.

The ministry said two Kalashnikov assault rifles and a large quantity of ammunition and explosives was also recovered.

Violence involving armed Islamists in Algeria has fallen considerably since the civil war of the 1990s, but groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb still carry out some attacks, mostly on security forces.

The Algerian army says more than 100 armed Islamists were killed in 2014.