ALGIERS, Feb 9: Antar Zouabri, blamed for some of Algeria’s bloodiest and most ruthless attacks as leader of the radical Armed Islamic Group, has been killed by Algerian forces, a government statement said on Saturday.

“Antar Zouabri and two other terrorists were shot dead by security forces on Friday at Boufarik,” their statement said. Boufarik lies about 25 km south of Algiers.

Zouabri took command of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in 1996, pushing Algeria’s civil strife to its bloodiest and most gruesome limits.

The government says that, under his leadership, the group slaughtered thousands of civilians who refused to back its aim of establishing a purist Islamic state in the oil-producing North African state.

The authorities also blamed Zouabri for encouraging GIA soldiers to kidnap thousands of girls for use as sex slaves in mountainous tunnels and caves.

Newspapers have reported Zouabri’s death several times in the past, but this is the first time the government has announced it.

The official Algerian news agency APS carried the statement twice on its wire, apparently to quash any doubt about the report.

General Fodil Cherif Brahim also confirmed Zouabri’s death in a rare departure with a military policy to avoid speaking to the media on the record.

“The identity of Antar Zouabri was confirmed by his fingerprints,” Brahim, who heads the first Algerian military region, which includes eastern provinces around Algiers, was quoted by APS as telling reporters.

TIPPED OFF: The security forces’ statement said police had been tipped off about Zouabri’s presence at a safe house near Boufarik’s main stadium.