The treasurer of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was one of five Islamist militants killed by Algerian troops a clash this week east of the capital, a press report said Wednesday.

The French-language daily Liberte named him as Adel Bourai, alias Ayoub, aged 27, from the Boumerdes region where the Algerian army began a major sweep late last week.

Eighteen people were killed and 26 wounded in a suicide bombing at the Cherchell military academy west of Algiers, the defense ministry said Saturday revising its own toll given hours earlier.

The ministry said 16 officers and two civilians were among the dead. Twenty wounded had been discharged but six people were still in hospital, one in critical condition.