By DPA
Paris : An attack by an apparent suicide bomber left 14 people dead in a crowd Thursday in Batna in eastern Algeria, according to Algerian Interior Minister Noureddin Yazid Zerhouni.
More than 60 people were reported wounded.
The attacker was described as carrying a bag believed to have contained the bomb. The suspect detonated himself after he was spotted by police who attempted to arrest him, a security source said.
The bombing took place in a crowd of people waiting for a visit by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in central Batna, the report said.
Bouteflika was not at the scene when the bomb was detonated. He later visited wounded victims in hospital, sources said.
In a televised statement after the attack, Bouteflika condemned the attack and pledged to stand by his policy of reconciliation with Muslim militants who disavow terrorism. Thursday’s bombing and previous attacks against Algerian civilians have nothing to do with Islam or its values, he said.
“National reconciliation was a strategic choice by the Algerian people,” Bouteflika said. “It is irrevocable.”