RELIGION OF PIECES BOMBS ALGERIA12/11 - Scores Dead, People trapped

A large part of the UN building was destroyed in the blast. 2 car bombs in Algiers, again, al-Qaeda again, 45 dead scores wounded, UN offices targeted, this just days after a contingent of 6000 UN forces took a Taliban (al-Qaeda) stronghold in Afghanistan.

UN building in shambles, people trapped.  A UN worker caught up in the Hydra attack told the BBC that part of the building was destroyed and it was feared people were trapped. hat tip Bill W

Dozens killed in Algeria bombings

There are fears people are trapped in the debris

At least 47 people have died in two bomb blasts in the Algerian capital, Algiers, officials have said. The first explosion is reported to have happened in the Ben Aknoun district, near the supreme constitutional court.

That was followed shortly afterwards by a second blast at the United Nations offices in the Hydra neighbourhood.

A UN worker caught up in the Hydra attack told the BBC that part of the building was destroyed and it was feared people were trapped.

Dozens were wounded in the blasts, officials say.

'Homicide bomber'

Body of child being carried out of blast area.

UPDATE: AL QAEDA GROUP BLAMED FOR BOMB BLASTS Times online

Rescue crews carry the body of a bomb blast victim after the explosion near a schoolbus in Algiers David Byers and agencies

At least 10 United Nations staff and a number of schoolchildren were among 52 people slaughtered today in two huge car bomb attacks blamed on al-Qaeda affliated militants in the Algerian capital, Algiers.

A pair of blasts occurred within minutes of each other, the first destroying a school bus outside the Constitutional Court building and the second detonating outside United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in the suburb of Hydra.

A group calling itself the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has been blamed for the attacks, the deadliest so far of a series of bombings in the last few months.

The targeting of the UN in one of the bombings will raise fears that the group is planning to internationalise its campaign and begin to target European, and in particular French, targets.

UPDATE: In other news on the global jihad: 

HOMICIDE attack at Pakistani nuclear weapons complex hat tip Larwyn

BOMB  Kills Iraqi Police Chief hat tip Daryl

UPDATE: Algeria:School bus targeted in algiers suicide bomb blast. Dec. 11: A victim seated inside the wreck of a car is seen at the site of a bomb blast in Algiers. (hat tip Bill W)

UPDATE: Algiers "9/11' terror attack by al-Qaeda

3/11 Madrid bombing ....9/11 NYC Washington attacks.....7/11 Mumbai (Bombay) bombing ..... 12/11 Algiers bombing

Islamic Web Site: Al Qaeda in North Africa Claims Responsibility for Algeria Bombings
ABC News