French open probe on Algeria attack that wounded two French

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into an attack in Algeria last week that injured two French citizens and was claimed by a North African affiliate of al-Qaida, judicial officials said Monday. An Italian, an Algerian driver, and five gendarmes were also injured in the attack Friday on a road between the town of Lakhdaria and the village of Maala, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the capital Algiers. The foreigners were in a convoy escorted by gendarmes. The French probe will be conducted by the counterintelligence service known as the DST, according to the judicial officials. They were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and asked not to be identified. France typically opens its own investigation when attacks and other incidents on foreign soil affect French citizens.