Algerian troops kill five Islamist fighters in operation

ALGIERS  – Algeria’s armed forces have mounted operations against Islamist militants in the east of the country and killed five fighters in the past few days, the Defence Ministry on Wednesday.

The campaigns were taking place in the eastern coastal regions of Jijel and Skikda, state news agency APS reported, citing the ministry.

It did not name any armed group but said five militants had been killed and weapons seized.

The Algerian government is fighting two armed groups, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Caliphate Soldiers, a branch of Islamic State.

Since the end of a civil war in the 1990s which killed more than 200,000 people, Algeria has become a U.S. ally in its fight against armed Islamist militancy in the Sahel.