12 employees of Montreal-based firm killed while on the way to work

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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ALGIERS, Algeria - Twin car bombings rocked a hotel and military headquarters in the Algerian town of Bouira killing a dozen people who worked for Montreal-based engineering giant SNC Lavalin Inc. a day after a suicide bombing in a neighbouring region killed 43.

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The Associated Press

A destroyed vehicle is seen in front of a hotel hit by a car bomb in Bouira, 60 miles southeast of Algiers, yesterday. Twin car bombings rocked a hotel and military headquarters in the Algerian town of Bouira yesterday, killing 11 people, official media and witnesses said, a day after a suicide bombing in a neighbouring region killed 43.

SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) said yesterday the 12 dead were Algerians on a bus heading to work at the Koudiat Acerdoune water treatment plant the company is building in the north African country.

Another 15 Algerian workers were also wounded, the company said.

"SNC-Lavalin would like to extend its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims, and to those who are currently being treated in a local hospital," the Montreal construction and engineering company said.

"We would like all our employees to know that we strongly deplore this act of terrorism, and that their health and safety remains a top priority for the company."

SNC-Lavalin, Canada's largest engineering group, has operations around the world, including risky countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Yesterday's first bomb targeted the regional military command in Bouira province, 95 kilometres southeast of Algiers, and injured four soldiers, the state-run APS news agency reported.

Initial reports suggested that 11 people died and 27 were wounded when a second bomb went off a minute later next to a hotel in downtown Bouira.

Both bombs were set off by remote control, officials said.

Just 50 kilometres to the north, in adjacent Boumerdes province, a suicide bomber on Tuesday rammed a car into a line of applicants at a police academy in the town of Les Issers, killing at least 43 people and injuring 45.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings yesterday or five other attacks this month, but all occurred in the area east of the capital where an Algerian offshoot of al-Qaida is believed to be in operation.

A security official in the Bouira area said that nearly all the victims yesterday were civilians.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't allowed to discuss such matters with the media.

The military barracks was most damaged.

"Parts of the walls have fallen off, the fence is destroyed, cars are buried under the rubble," Abdellah Debbache, the Bouira correspondent of Algeria's Liberte newspaper, said by telephone.