Two Algerian soldiers killed in clash with militants: ministry

Two Algerian soldiers and two militants were killed in a firefight near the desert border with Niger, the North African country's defence ministry said Friday.

"Following a clash with a terrorist group along the border zone in the Hassi Tiririne region... two soldiers were killed on the field of honour," the ministry said.

Two "terrorists" were also killed, it added.

The Algerian army regularly reports they have arrested or "neutralised" Islamist fighters, two decades after the end of a decade-long civil war between the state and militant groups which left 200,000 people dead.

Despite a peace and reconciliation charter signed in 2005 to end the violence, armed groups still carry out occasional operations against security forces.

On January 1, the defence ministry said 23 "terrorists" had been neutralised and over 200 arrested over the course of last year.