Armed extremists have killed 31 people in two separate massacres in the Tiaret region of western Algeria, officials said on Thursday.
Twenty people were killed and five wounded in an attack at Ksar Chellala - the worst single attack in Algeria this year.
Another 11 people were killed in Sidi Khaled, on the outskirts of the town of Tiaret itself, which is 340 kilometres (210 miles) west of Algiers.
Most of the victims of the overnight attacks are thought to be civilians, but officials gave no further details.
Prison fire
The latest attacks come just a day after 14 prisoners were killed and 11 injured in a fire that spread through a high security jail in the country's capital Algiers.
The blaze in the Serkadji prison appeared to have been started by prisoners who set fire to their mattresses after seeing a 19-year-old inmate try to commit suicide.
Most of the detainees at the prison are Islamists sentenced to death or serving life sentences after being found guilty of terrorist activities.
They include army officer Lembarek Boumaarafi, sentenced to death for the assassination of President Mohammed Boudiaf in 1992.
It is not yet known whether Boumaraafi was among the casualties.