The North African arm of terrorist group al Qaida has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's two truck bombings outside a UN building in Algiers, which killed at least 26 people, including 11 UN staff.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa posted images of two of the suicide bombers on its website, and called the attack a "successful conquest" against the "international infidels" at the United Nations.

Although the official death toll is currently 26, sources in the Algerian capital, including doctors, have put the figure at over 60. Rescuers are continuing to search through the debris.

The explosions, which occurred in short succession at around 9:30 a.m. local time (8:30 a.m. GMT) severely damaged offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Development Program, as well as Algeria's Constitutional Council.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, currently at a climate change conference in Bali, called the attack "an abject cowardly strike against civilian officials serving humanity's highest ideals under the UN banner - base, indecent and unjustifiable by even the most barbarous political standard."

The attacks are the worst to hit the UN since the 2003 Baghdad bombing, which killed 22.

RIA Novosti


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