Report: Al Qaeda group claims deadly bombs

Story Highlights

• NEW: At least 24 people killed, 222 injured in two bomb attacks in Algiers
• Al Qaeda-affiliated group claims responsibility in phone call to Al-Jazeera
• First explosion occurred near building occupied by PM Abdelaziz Belkhadem
• Second blast at police station in eastern district of Bab Ezzouar, killing at least 11

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ALGIERS, Algeria (CNN) -- An al Qaeda-affiliated group has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's two bomb blasts in Algiers that the state-run news agency Algerie Presse Service said killed at least 24 people and wounded 222.

A spokesman for al Qaeda in the Maghreb (North Africa) made the claim in a telephone call to Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera, the broadcaster said.

An Islamist Web site that has carried statements and videos from al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations posted a claim that described three attacks allegedly carried out by "three martyrdom seekers of the Lions of Islam" -- members of al Qaeda in the Maghreb. CNN could not verify the claims.

The first blast occurred shortly before noon local time (1000 GMT) close to the government offices of Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem, killing at least 12 and wounding 118 others, state news agency APS reported.

Belkhadem, who was unharmed, described the attack as a "criminal and cowardly act," APS said. "We are now transporting the wounded to the hospitals." (Watch a defiant Belkhadem react after the blast )

Police sources said the attack on the centrally-located government offices was a suicide bombing, Reuters reported. A burnt-out car lay close to the gates which had been twisted backwards by the force of the blast.

Police cordoned off the damaged front of the six-story building which had been partially ripped away, showering rubble onto nearby cars, Reuters reported.

Ambulances were quickly on the scene as thousands of people poured into the streets after the blast, with medics carrying the bloodied and burned victims in their arms and on stretchers.

One Algerian, Leila Aissaoui, 25, stood crying nearby. "I thought explosions in Algiers were over," she told Reuters. "I made a big mistake and I can't accept this."

"At first I thought it was an earthquake," lawyer Tahar bin Taleb told Reuters. "My wife called me a few moments later crying and shouting. I ran home to find all the mirrors and windows in the house were shattered."

A second bomb exploded at a police station in the eastern district of Bab Ezzouar, killing at least 11 and wounding 44, APS said.

Huge blow

The explosions were the first such attack in Algeria's capital in years, raising fears of a return to violence in the north African country.

It was reported to be the first time since the 1990s that a powerful bomb targeted the center of the Mediterranean city, where police had increased security amid a surge in attacks by suspected Islamist insurgents elsewhere in the country.

The attacks are a huge blow for the North African nation's efforts to end an Islamic insurgency that has left 200,000 dead.

After years of relative calm, al Qaeda in the Maghreb, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, has started to wage several smaller attacks, AP said.

The insurgency started in 1992 when the army canceled elections that an Islamic party appeared set to win. Algeria's military targeted militants hiding in mountains, while the government offered amnesty to militants willing to turn in their weapons.

Belkhadem expressed bitterness at insurgents who refused the amnesty offers.

"The Algerian people stretched out a hand to them, and they respond with a terrorist act," he said.

Meanwhile, French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said he was horrified by the attacks and expressed "full solidarity" with Algeria, Reuters reported. France ruled Algeria prior to independence in 1962.

"I am horrified and indignant after the attacks which have just struck Algiers," Douste-Blazy said in a statement. "I convey my sincerest condolences to the victims' families and assure the Algerian authorities of our full solidarity in their fight against terrorism."

The Spanish government also condemned the attacks, with prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero expressing "deepest sympathy" for the victims in a telegram to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Algeria is a major supplier of natural gas to Spain, and Madrid pledged Wednesday its continued cooperation with Algeria to combat terrorism.

In Morocco Tuesday, three suspected members of a terrorist group blew themselves up as they were about to be arrested, and a fourth was shot to death by police after a chase in Casablanca's al Fida neighborhood, according to security services quoted by Morocco's state-run news agency, Maghreb Arabe Presse. A police officer also died in the incident.

The four men were believed to be connected with a March 11 suicide bombing that killed the bomber and wounded four other people in the Sidi Moumen neighborhood. (Full story)

Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said on Wednesday that there was no link between the events "and the terrorist attacks in the neighboring countries," presumably meaning Algeria. The cell was also not connected to an international terrorist network, he said, judging from their "primitive and traditional ways.

"As far as the timing of the Casablanca events and its links with other terrorist activities, this is far-fetched because the suicide bombers in Casablanca could not choose the time and the place for their bombings. They did what they did because they were in a desperate situation after the security forces succeeded in cornering them," he said.

Moroccan King Mohammed VI visited injured victims of the blasts Wednesday, according to Maghreb Arabe Presse.

CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman contributed to this report.