PARIS (Reuters) - Gunmen thought to be Moslem rebels killed 26 civilians in western Algeria, cutting their throats or decapitating them with axes, national newspapers said on Sunday. About 20 gunmen stopped 22 civilians at a fake roadblock in Tlemcen province on Friday, bound them hand and foot with wires and then took them into a wasteground nearby and killed them all, El Watan and Al Khabar newspapers said. The dailies said most of the victims -- six women, 15 men and one teenager -- were heading for mass prayers at a mosque near Tajmout, 400 km (250 miles) west of Algiers. El Watan said the killings took place in early afternoon. In the neighbouring province of Mascara, suspected rebels slashed the throats of four shepherds in Aouf hamlet on Friday, said El Watan without giving more details. The massacre in Tlemcen was the worst reported killing in Algeria since the October 23 local elections. More than 65,000 people have died in Algeria's violence since 1992 when the authorities cancelled a general election in which radical Islamists had taken a commanding lead.