The Al Jazeera television channel has said an Islamic group with links to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for two bombings which have killed up to 30 people in the Algerian capital, Algiers.
The authenticity of the claim has not been confirmed.
The claim was made in a telephone call to the channel.
The official Algerian news agency, APS, reported that at least nine people were killed in a blast at Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem's headquarters, and 32 people were injured.
APS reported that a second bomb hit Bab Ezzouar on the city's eastern outskirts, killing at least eight people and injuring at least 50.
Hospital sources put the death toll at 30.
Police sources said the attack on the government building was a suicide bombing.
Dozens of ambulances converged on the upscale residential neighbourhood in the centre of the Algerian capital as thousands of people poured onto the streets and survivors were led from the building.
Prime Minister Belkhadem, who was not harmed, was quoted by APS as calling the attack a 'criminal and cowardly act'.
The blast at the six-story government building shattered windows and showered rubble onto cars for blocks around.
Today's attacks were the first major bombing in central Algiers in several years.
Violence in Algeria has been on the rise since the main guerrilla group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), adopted a new name in January and deepened its ties to al-Qaeda.
The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly bombings targeting security forces and foreigners, and Algerian troops and militants have clashed.
