By DPA
Paris/Algiers : At least 52 people were killed and 43 others injured when two car bombs exploded in the Algerian capital Algiers on Tuesday, Algerian security sources said.
One bomb was reported to have exploded on or near a bus carrying students in the vicinity of the Algerian Supreme Court, while the second explosion took place in a neighbouring residential district, near the headquarters of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Government sources said that both explosions were caused by car bombs, including at least one with a driver aboard. But witnesses told French TV news channel BFM that the bus appeared to have been destroyed by a bomb placed on board, which accounted for the large number of casualties.
The bombs were detonated within 10 minutes of each other.
Television pictures showed a large crater and a badly damaged high-rise building at one of the sites, testifying to the force of the explosion.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but the group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has carried out several deadly attacks in Algeria since the beginning of the year.
The group was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and was integrated in the Al Qaeda network in January.