ALGIERS — Algerian authorities say four armed Islamic extremists have been killed in a shootout with soldiers southeast of the capital.
A security service statement Saturday says the fighting occurred overnight in Sour El Ghozlane, 120 kilometers (70 miles) from Algiers.
The four were in a car heading south when soldiers stopped them and the shooting began, the statement said.
Algeria's army has been fighting extremists for two decades, but tensions recently have been concentrated much farther south, in the desert close to the Libyan border.
Al-Qaida's North African arm, AQIM, is based in Algeria.
