Two bombs exploded at a railway station east of Algiers, killing 12 people, including a French engineer, said diplomats and security sources.
It was the first time since the 1990s that a French citizen was killed in political violence in Algeria.
The bombs went off at close intervals in the town of Beni Amrane, about 30 miles from the capital.
Eight of the dead were soldiers and two were firemen, said a security source, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
