December 11, 2007, Algiers bombings
There were two near simultaneous bombings in Algiers which occurred on 11 December 2007 when two car bombs exploded 10 minutes apart starting at around 9:30 a.m. local time, in the Algerian capital, Algiers. The al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attacks, stating that it was "another successful conquest [...] carried out by the Knights of the Faith with their blood in defense of the wounded nation of Islam." These attacks constitute another act of violence in the ongoing Islamic insurgency, a continuation of the Algerian Civil War that has claimed 200,000 lives. Targets Two car bombs containing 800 kg (1,700 lb) of explosives each were used in the bombings. The first explosion occurred in the Ben Aknoun district, near the Supreme Constitutional Court. This was followed ten minutes later by a second blast on the road that separates the United Nations offices from the offices of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in the Hydra neighborhood. The United Nations building partially collapsed in the explosion while the UNHCR offices were "leveled" according to a UNHCR official. The United Nations building housed the offices of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food