ALGIERS, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The death toll from political violence in Algeria rose to 125 in August from nine the previous month as al Qaeda stepped up its attacks, according to a Reuters count based on newspaper reports and official statements. Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for most attacks, including five car bombings, making August the bloodiest month in 2008. The total number of dead last month included 71 civilians, 35 rebels and 19 members of the security forces. Following are some of the main developments: * On Aug. 19, a car bomb killed 48 people outside a gendarmerie training school in Issers, 55 km (35 miles) east of Algiers. The attack targeted a crowd of men queuing up to take an entrance exam at the paramilitary school. * On Aug. 20, two car bombs killed 12 Algerian workers of the Canadian engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc <SNC.TO>. The employees died when their bus was hit by an explosion near a military barracks in Bouira province, 90 km (55 miles) southwest of Algiers. * On Aug. 10, Six civilian were killed in a car bomb attack that targeted a coastguard barracks in the town of Zemouri el Bahri, 45 km (28 miles) east of the capital. * On Aug. 7, the army killed 12 rebels and seized weapons, including Kalashnikov automatic rifles, a grenade and communications gear, during an operation in Tizi Ouzou province. * On Aug. 24, security forces killed 10 rebels and seized five Kalashnikovs, a grenade launcher and four FSA semi-automatic gunsin an operation in Ain Defla province, 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Algiers. * On Aug. 27, rebels killed five soldiers and two municipal guards and wounded 14 soldiers in an ambush in Batna province, 350 km (220 miles) from Algiers. * On Aug. 3, a car bomb exploded near a police station in the centre of Tizi Ouzou town, wounding 25 people including four policemen. (Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; Editing by Giles Elgood)
People carry their belongings as they wade through a flooded road in Puthimari village, 80 km (50 miles) west of the eastern Indian city of Guwahati, September 2, 2008. Heavy rains ...
