Press reports in Algeria say fourteen people have been killed in two separate attacks by suspected Islamic militants near Algiers earlier this week.

One newspaper Le Matin said eight people had their throats cut when an armed group attacked a village near Ain Tagourait, in the Tipaza region on Tuesday night.

The previous night six members of the same family -- four of them children -- were killed in a similar attack in Halouiya, near Blida.

Another daily Liberte said two of the children had their throats cut, the other two had been shot.

Correspondents say the latest wave of killings follows a relative lull in violence recently. They say at least two-hundred people have been reported killed in Algeria each month since a government amnesty for militants expired in January.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service