Attackers kill seven on Algeria beach

ALGIERS, Algeria -- A group believed to be Islamic militants disguised as police officers killed seven people who were camping at a beach in eastern Algeria, slitting their victims' throats, news reports said Tuesday. \nTwo other people were injured in the Sunday attack at the Ouled Bakrat beach, 370 miles east of the capital, Algiers, El Watan newspaper reported. \nSeveral campers escaped by swimming to sea or hiding in bushes, Liberte newspaper said. The group of about 15 assailants also burned five cars parked at the beach. \nIslamic militants in the North African nation have waged a nine-year campaign of violence to try to topple the military-backed government. More than 100,000 people have been killed since the insurgency broke out in 1992, when the military canceled elections that an Islamic fundamentalist party was set to win. \nLiberte said the attack was believed to have been carried out by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a group that refused President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's program of partial amnesty for insurgents who turned themselves in by January 2000. \nWhile thousands of militants are reported to have taken advantage of the amnesty plan, many others continue waging the insurgency. \nIn another attack Sunday, suspected militants slit the throats of two people after kidnapping them from a cafe in Bouraoui Belhadef, 220 miles east of Algiers, Le Matin newspaper reported.