Some 1,100 civilians, militants and security forces were killed this year in violence linked to Algeria's Islamic insurgency, roughly the same number as in 2001, according to figures compiled by newspapers. The continuing violence has undermined the military-backed government's claim that it is winning its decade-old battle against Islamic extremists.

The stable figure does suggest, however, that Algeria is less likely to relapse into all-out war and remains on the path toward stability.

At the insurgency's peak in 1997, violence claimed 1,200 lives during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan alone.

The fighting erupted in 1992 after the army canceled legislative elections that a Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to win. An estimated 120,000 people are believed to have died since then, including about 1,100 in 2001.

In the worst single massacre of civilians in 2002, militants slit the throats of 23 nomads in the eastern Chlef region in June.

The government dealt a blow to the Islamic movement this year with the killing of several extremist leaders, including the chief of the Armed Islamic Group, the country's most radical insurgent group.

Algeria's army has been hunting down insurgents who refused President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's offer of amnesty for some militants willing to turn in their weapons. Many are hiding out in inaccessible mountains and forests. But militant groups have struck back, stepping up attacks on army convoys.

Earlier this month, a group of 100 fighters launched a full-on assault against an army convoy east of the capital, Algiers, killing nine soldiers before retreating into their mountain hide-outs.

The bloodiest clash with military took place in April, when militants killed 21 soldiers during a fierce gunbattle in the Saida region after an army incursion.

Figures on militants killed this year are difficult to come by, though officials maintain the number of active fighters has steadily declined.

Senior military leaders claimed in October there were only 600 to 650 militants still operating across the country.

Algerian media have devoted much coverage this year to the growing influence of Osama bin Laden' s al-Qaida terror network on Algeria's Islamic groups.

Reports have circulated about an alleged meeting in December between three envoys of bin Laden and leaders of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, a local extremist outfit.

On Dec. 22, the government announced that security forces had shot dead a top al-Qaida operative for Africa, Emad Abdelwahid Ahmed Alwan, Ilias Abu Mohammed.

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Some 1,100 civilians, militants and security forces were killed this year in violence linked to Algeria's Islamic insurgency, roughly the same number as in 2001, according to figures compiled by newspapers.