LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's north African wing has claimed responsibility for two car bombs in Algeria which killed 12 people and wounded 42 this week, the Al Jazeera television network said on Thursday.

Wednesday's bombings at Bouira, 90 km (56 miles) southeast of Algiers, were claimed on behalf of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in an audio recording by a group official called Salah Abu Mohammad, the Arabic broadcaster said.

They followed a spate of attacks by the group, including a bombing on Tuesday that killed 48 people and ambushes on Sunday that killed 11.

The group, known until last year as Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, has claimed several earlier attacks including the twin suicide bombings of U.N. offices and a court building in Algiers in December 2007.

The urban bombings reflect new tactics first adopted in 2007 by the militants fighting to set up purist Islamic rule in the North African country, a key oil and gas supplier to Europe.

Violence began in Algeria in 1992 when a military-backed government scrapped elections a radical Islamic party was poised to win. About 150,000 people have died in the ensuing violence. (Writing by Giles Elgood; editing by Andrew Roche)

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