There was no immediate claim of responsibility but commentators said that it appeared that the work of al-Qaeda’s north Africa wing, which claimed a similar bombing in downtown Algiers in April over the summer, have worried foreign investors. People ran through the streets crying in panic after the first blast and the wail of police sirens filled the air. “I was nearby when I heard a huge explosion. I am fed up with this situation,’’ student Mohamed Selnani told Reuters.

Telephone lines in the city of three million were jammed or were not working, residents said. The source said the final death toll could go even higher.

One of Tuesday’s blasts struck near the Constitutional Court building and the other,  close to the UN offices and a police station in the upscale Hydra district, an area where several Western companies have their offices, a source said. Algeria, a major gas supplier to Europe, is recovering from more than a decade of violence that began in 1992, when the then army-backed government scrapped elections and a radical Islamic party was poised to win. Thousands of people died in the unrest.

The violence has subsided since then but a string of attacks this year including the April 11 attack that killed 33 in Algiers has raised fears that the country could slip back into the turmoil of the 1990s.

Some attempted attacks have occurred on Tuesday, in what Algerians interpret as a form of homage to the September 11 attacks on the United States. Western nations have expressed concern at militant Islamist activity in the north African region. Dependents of several western firms operating in Algeria have been repatriated over the past 12 months due to security worries.

Anis Rahmani, editor of ‘Ennahar’ daily and a security specialist told Reuters, “Al-Qaeda wanted to send a strong message that it is still capable despite the loss of several top leaders.

Now, the key problem is that social conditions are still offering chances for terrorists to hire new rebels.