11 December 2007 Algiers bombings

2007 Algiers bombings
Location	Algiers, Algeria
Date	11 December 2007 09:30 (GMT+1)
Target	United Nations, Constitutional Court
Attack type	suicide bombings
Deaths	41 (incl. 17 UN staff)
Non-fatal injuries	170
Perpetrators	claimed by al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb

There were two near simultaneous bombings in Algiers which occurred on 11 December 2007 when two car bombs exploded 10 minutes apart starting at around 9:30 a.m. local time, in the Algerian capital Algiers. The al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the attacks, stating that it was "another successful conquest […] carried out by the Knights of the Faith with their blood in defense of the wounded nation of Islam." These attacks constitute another act of violence in the ongoing Islamic insurgency, a continuation of the Algerian Civil War that has claimed 200,000 lives.

Two car bombs containing 800 kg (1,700 lb) of explosives each were used in the bombings. The first explosion occurred in the Ben Aknoun district, near the Supreme Constitutional Court. This was followed ten minutes later by a second blast on the road that separates the United Nations offices from the offices of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in the Hydra neighborhood. The United Nations building partially collapsed in the explosion while the UNHCR offices were "leveled" according to a UNHCR official. The United Nations building housed the offices of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Department of Safety and Security (DSS) and the Population Fund (UNFPA). The collapsed section mainly housed the UNDP.

The attack against the UN office was a suicide bombing. It is as yet unknown whether the same is true for the Constitutional Court attack.