Algerian army unearths caches

The Algerian army discovered 18 ammunition caches yesterday in an area where al-Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the killing of nine soldiers last month, the defence ministry said.

The military seized “large” quantities of ammunition and explosives, transmitters, detonation tools and cellphones in the caches in Ain Defla province, some 150km west of the capital Algiers, the ministry said. The place had also been used to make bombs, it said.