FACTBOX: Key facts on Algerian Islamist group

(Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least 67 people in upscale districts of Algiers on Tuesday, a health ministry source said, in the bloodiest attack since an undeclared civil war in the 1990s.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but commentators said it looked like the work of al Qaeda's north Africa wing, which has claimed similar recent bombings.

Here are some key facts on the militants, formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC).

* In late January 2007 the group changed its name from GSPC to Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb after gaining the approval of Osama bin Laden.

* The GSPC, as it was known by its French acronym, aimed to establish an Islamic state within Algeria and targeted Westerners.

* Founded in 1998, it eclipsed the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in Algeria to become the most effective remaining armed group in Algeria. In October 2003, the group offered its support to the al Qaeda network.

* GSPC's strength was thought to be about 500. It is not clear how many of its members have joined Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

* In 2003 GSPC kidnapped 32 European tourists in the Sahara. All were freed apart from one who died of heatstroke.

* In April 2007, 33 people were killed in Algiers in a triple suicide bombing. Al Qaeda's North Africa wing also said it was behind suicide bombings in Dellys town, east of Algiers, on September 8 and a suicide blast in the southeastern town of Batna on September 6 that killed 57 people. The bomb in Batna had targeted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Sources: Reuters, Jane's World Insurgency and Terrorism, FAS - Federation of American Scientists, Global Security.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)