An Algerian security official says a remote-controlled bomb has killed two police officers and wounded 10 civilians east of Algeria's capital.

The official says the homemade bomb was set off early Tuesday when a police patrol passed in front of the post office in the town of Bordj in the Boumerdes region.

Police suspect al-Qaida's North Africa offshoot was behind the attack, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because Algerian security officials are barred from speaking to the media.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, grew out of an Algerian insurgency movement and stages sporadic attacks on Algerian police and security forces.