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ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - An insurgency group that has aligned itself with al-Qaida claimed responsibility Monday for a deadly attack on employees of an affiliate of the U.S. company Halliburton, saying it was a "gift to all Muslims."
Assailants hurled a bomb and shot at two vehicles transporting employees Sunday evening in the town of Bouchaoui, 9 miles west of Algiers. The Interior Ministry said the Algerian driver of one bus was killed and nine other people were hurt, including one American, four Britons, one Canadian, a Lebanese and another Algerian.
It was the first time in recent memory that Americans have been targeted in Algeria. The attack threatened to stain the North African nation's international security image just as it is enjoying an oil boom and increased foreign investment after a bloody insurgency that wracked Algeria in the 1990s.
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