Bombers Hit Algerian Capital

Two bombs, including one targeting the prime minister's office, killed at least 23 people in Algiers today, in the latest in a round of suspected Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror attacks that have rocked North Africa in recent weeks, the New York Times reports.

The group thought to be responsible for the explosions—the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat—targeted Algeria's government during the country's decade-long civil war. But since aligning with Al Qaeda last year, the Salafists—now known as the Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb—have ratcheted up their attacks. They are joined by similar groups in Morocco and Tunisia; authorities fear that groups in the three nations are forming a powerful regional terror organization. (More terrorism stories.)