Pat Dollard

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THENIA, Algeria – A car loaded with explosives and headed for a police station in northern Algeria exploded Tuesday after officers stopped the attack with bullets. Witnesses and security officials said at least three people were killed and 23 wounded.

Officers opened fire on a vehicle that was speeding toward the local police station in the town of Thenia, some 40 miles east of Algiers. The vehicle exploded short of the building, leaving a 6 1/2-foot-wide crater.

The explosion was the latest in a wave of attacks signaling that Islamic fighters are regrouping in Algeria, where offensives by security forces and government amnesty offers had thinned the ranks of insurgents in recent years.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attempted attack Tuesday in Thenia that stopped the clock on City Hall and damaged surrounding buildings.

Since the December attacks, police have been searching for 33 alleged Islamists ranging in age from 24 and 42, including a 26-year-old woman, El Watan said.

Algeria has been battling an Islamic insurgency since 1992 triggered when the army canceled the second round of the country’s first multiparty elections to prevent a likely victory by a now-banned Muslim fundamentalist party. Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have died in violence since then.

(AP)