At least eight people were killed today when a suicide bomber blew himself up near military encampment southeast of the Algerian capital.

The bomber was driving a refrigerated truck packed with explosives, which blew up as it was passing a military tent on the edge of Lakhdaria, 80km (50 miles) south east of Algiers in the restive region of Kabylie, residents said. Some said that the truck usually delivers food to the camp but had been hijacked a few hours earlier.

The explosion caused widespread damage and provoked panic in a region that saw widespread violence during the 1990s, and where security remains tight.

The bombing came on the opening day of the All Africa Games, the continent's equivalent of the Olympics - which is taking place in Algiers and also in Blida and Boumerdes. It also followed a visit to Algiers yesterday by President Sarkozy of France.

Thousands of athletes from 52 countries have come to Algeria for the Games, which are held every four years. More than 8,000 extra police have been deployed.

After the bombing, security was increased at the Algiers airport, conducting thorough checks of all cars and passengers and causing extended flight delays. Extra roadblock checkpoints went up around the capital.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Algera's most deadly suicide attack for three months.

Algeria has been seeking to turn the page on an Islamic insurgency that has killed as many as 200,000 people since the army called off elections in 1992 that an Islamist party was poised to win.

While large-scale violence died down in the 1990s, scattered attacks by an al-Qaeda affiliated group have mounted in recent months.

Last week, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika gave a saber-rattling speech to army officers on the country’s Independence Day, denouncing “enemies of the people" trying to disrupt national unity. That same day, a bomb hit the convoy of a top official in the Tizi-Ouzou region east of the capital.

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