Algerian troops on Friday killed three armed Islamist fighters in the Skidda region west of the capital during an operation in the area, the defence ministry said.

A statement said the suspects were killed in the afternoon during a search which is still under way, and described the gunmen as "terrorists".

Troops also seized several Kalashnikov assault rifles, ammunition and cell phones, it added.

Last year the army killed or arrested 157 "terrorists" -- the term Algeria's authorities use to describe Islamist militants -- according to ministry figures.

A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed the lives of some 200,000 people.

Despite adopting a peace and reconciliation charter in 2005 aimed at turning the page on the conflict, armed groups remain active in central and eastern Algeria.