Cairo  - The North African wing of the al-Qaeda terrorist network claimed responsibility for two car bombings in Algeria this week that killed 12 people, the al-Jazeera television network reported.

In an audio recording, a spokesman claimed Wednesday's bombings in Bouira, about 100 kilometres south-east of the capital, Algiers, were carried out by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the news network said late Thursday.

The two car bombs detonated in the city centre. In one attack, a suicide bomber drove his car into a military administration office in Bouira. In the second bombing, a suicide attacker drove his car toward a hotel but at the last moment diverted it to smash into a bus before exploding.

The attacks followed a bombing by the group Tuesday in Issers, 60 kilometres east of Algiers, where a suicide bomber drove a bomb-laden car into the main entrance of a school where police academy candidates were gathered, killing 43 people and wounding 45. (dpa)