Al Qaeda Claims Algeria Bombings

The North African branch of al-Qaeda has claimed it was behind a pair of car bombs in Algeria that killed 12 this week, al-Jazeera reports. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb issued an audio recording of an official announcing responsibility for the attacks. The bombings were the latest in a series of attacks by the group, including a car bomb Tuesday that killed 48, Reuters reports. The attacks were retaliation for security forces' crackdown on militants, the tape said. (More al-Qaeda Islamic Maghreb stories.)