Al-Qa'ida has claimed responsibility for a double car bomb strike in Algiers that killed dozens of people, including 11 UN workers, the deadliest attack on the world body since 2003.
The Algerian Government said 30 people were killed and 177 others injured by the twin bombings, which were claimed by the extremist network al-Qa'ida's Branch in the Islamic Maghreb.
But hospital sources in Algiers gave a toll of 62 dead and about 100 injured.
The destruction raised the spectre of a return to the civil war that ravaged the North African country in the 1990s.
Commentators said the targets appeared to confirm al-Qa'ida's plan to subsume Algeria's internal conflict into its war on the West. The date - December 11 - also pointed to Osama bin Laden's signature, they said.
The date caught the interest of international intelligence specialists. The 2001 attacks in the US were on September 11, the Madrid bombings on March 11, 2004.
I don't think the date is nearly as important as the method of bombing utilized - simultaneous car bombings, which is a hallmark of al Qaeda. They look to engage in multiple synchronous attacks on targets, such as 9/11, Operation Bojinka, African embassy bombings, or any number of suicide bombings in Iraq.
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