Algerian troops kill 8 Islamist militants south of capital

Algerian troops killed eight Islamist armed fighters and captured weapons on Sunday in an operation south of the capital, the ministry of defence said.

Four other suspected militants were also arrested during the operation in Rouakeche area of Medea, APS state news agency reported. But the statement did not say to which group the suspects belonged.

Violence is rarer now in Algeria since the end of its 1990s war with Islamist fighters that killed 200,000 people. But Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and small bands of fighters allied to Islamic State have been active in remote regions.