Algerian Defense Ministry on Tuesday said its counterterrorism troops killed four militants in an ongoing operation in the northeastern province of Skikda.

A two-day wide scale operation was carried out in the dense woods of the locality of Azzaba in the upper mountains of Skikda, 400 km east of Algiers.

The troops also retrieved three Kalashnikov machine guns, a semi-automatic rifle and a quantity of ammunition, the ministry said.

Some local media reported that a number of soldiers were injured during the operation and were rushed to hospital.

Remnants of terrorist groups, linked in particular to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, are still present in the mountains and forests of northeastern Algeria.