A bomb attack in Algeria has wounded nine people, including foreign workers and members of their police escort, state media reports.

The injured were said to be five Algerian police, an Algerian driver, two French workers and an Italian.

A group calling itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said it carried out the attack, which took place in Bouira, 70km south-east of the capital Algiers.

France says it takes the al-Qaeda threat to its nationals very seriously.

The latest bombing comes a day after al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a video message saying that French and Spaniards should be cleansed from north Africa.

"We take these new threats very seriously," said French foreign ministry spokesman Frederic Desagneaux.

"We have instructed the diplomatic stations concerned to reinforce security."

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for two attacks in Algeria earlier this month which killed more than 50 people in the space of a week.

PHOTO CAPTION

 Algeria map