More Than 80 Slain in Less Than 2 Days

Attackers armed with knives, axes and guns massacred more than 80 people in less than two days, slaughtering some with chain saws and dousing others in burning gasoline, newspapers and witnesses said. It was one of the worst spurts of violence since the 5-year-old Islamic insurgency began. The series of attacks, blamed by survivors on various Islamic factions, all took place within a 62-mile radius of the capital, Algiers--the same area where security forces have been waging a fierce offensive against Islamic militants in recent months. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, and authorities did not report them. The survivors, all speaking on condition of anonymity, said some attackers consulted lists of people to kill.