Algeria ? Al-Qaida’s North African affiliate claimed responsibility Sunday for a car bombing that killed 30 coast guard officers and another recent blast that ripped through a crowd waiting for the president.

In Saturday’s blast, explosives planted in a van ripped through barracks in the northern coastal town of Dellys, about 30 miles from the capital, Algiers. The bombing appeared timed to kill as many officers as possible when they were grouped together to raise the flag.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa claimed responsibility in a statement posted on the group’s Web site, and it said it also was behind a blast Thursday that killed at least 22 in eastern Algeria.

“We swear to God to continue sacrificing our lives until you stop supporting the crusaders in their war, apply the Islamic tenet and stop your war against God’s religion,” the group said in the statement.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa has carried out a spate of recent bombings that have shattered the Algerian government’s efforts to restore calm after a 15-year Islamist insurgency.