Head of Algerian security service killed

ALGIERS - The head of the Algerian security service DGSN, Ali Tounsi, was shot and killed Thursday, the Algerian interior ministry said.

According to the ministry’s press statement, Tounsi was assassinated early Thursday by a high-ranking police officer during a meeting in his Algiers office.

The assailant then turned the weapon on himself and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The website Algeria 360 identified the assassin as a colonel in the police academy. Citing what it described as a reliable source, the site said that the shooting followed n argument between the two men.

The interior ministry claimed that the attacker was suffering from a mental disorder. However, in 2003, some 50 police officers sent a letter to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika accusing Tounsi and his closest associates of corruption.

Last year, Tounsi was forced to deny rumours that he planned to step down from a position that he had occupied since 1995.