Defense Ministry lowers bomb toll

Algeria’s Defense Ministry denied reports that a weekend bombing attack at a train station killed 13 people, saying that two people had died.

A statement said a French citizen and his Algerian chauffeur were killed, as reported, in the double bombing at the Beni Amrane train station, about 60 miles southeast of Algiers.

An Algerian security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday, said two blasts minutes apart had killed those two plus eight soldiers and three firefighters.

Official death tolls are often not made public and journalists must rely on security officials not authorized to speak on the record.