A car bomb went off Saturday in northern Algeria near a naval barracks, at least 28 people being killed and more than 60 injured, media reports said.

The attack targeted Algeria’s coast guard barracks in Dellys, some 100 kilometres east of the capital Algiers. Most of the victims were coast guard personnel, initial reports saying 19 people lost their lives when the suicide attacker rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the compound’s gate.

Two days ago, another suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the eastern city of Batna. Twenty-two people died and 107 were wounded by the fierce blast that ripped through a crowd waiting for the country’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

According to witnesses, the attacker hid the bomb in a bag and was passing through the crowd when security forces noticed him. When policemen tried to detain him, the bomber set off his deadly charge.

Thursday's incident occurred in the city’s central area just a few minutes before the president was scheduled to arrive, security sources informed.

Bouteflika blamed Islamic militants for the vicious attack, saying they are “criminals” targeting “their people.”

“Terrorist acts have absolutely nothing in common with the noble values of Islam,” the leader reportedly said after the Batna attack.

“National reconciliation was a strategic choice by the Algerian people… it is irrevocable.”

The Algerian president is trying to implement a reconciliation plan that would end clashes between government troops and militants. His strategy gained the support of most Algerians and even political parties from the Islamist, nationalist and Democrat camps, with one exception- the Socialist Forces Front.