Algerian army arrests 7 armed Libyans near porous border

The Algerian Defense Ministry says the army has arrested seven armed Libyans in an ambush in the southeast, near the Libyan border and not far from the deadly 2013 attack on a gas installation.

The ministry statement carried by the official APS news agency said Algerian security forces arrested the Libyans on Tuesday in Hassi-Kiout, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Libyan border. Their three vehicles were seized along with nine rifles, including four Kalashnikovs, munitions and two combat uniforms.

Libya, with its highly porous border, has become a haven for armed fighters from Mali and elsewhere. The team of terrorists who invaded the Ain Amenas gas complex in January 2013, an attack that left at least 37 hostages dead, were thought to have crossed into Algeria from Libya.