Algerian soldiers have killed five jihadi gunmen during the hunt for the killers of French tourist Hervé Gourdel, the defence ministry and army announced on Friday, reports RFI.
Officials say they have identified the five men involved in Gourdel’s beheading last month.
Three alleged jihadis were killed and two Kalashnikovs and a semi-automatic rifle seized on Friday near Bouria, 120 kilometres east of Algiers, the ministry said.
Another was killed in a raid in the Tiaret region, south-west of Algiers, on Thursday, and a fifth was killed in the same area on Friday.
On Thursday the army announced that it had found and destroyed a camp that had been used by Gourdel’s kidnappers in the Djurdjura mountains.
Video footage passed to national television showed a camp fire still smoking and the military, who say they found a mobile phone, batteries and explosives at the site, claim the jihadis had fled shortly before their arrival.
The Al-Watan newspaper reported this week that the army had identified five individuals thought to be behind Gourdel’s murder.
Read more of this report from RFI.