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Sheep traders in Algeria are using Facebook and a local online selling site to sell their livestock ahead of the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival.

They are hopeful that e-commerce can spare them the risks that come with travelling to big cities to sell their sacrificial animals, given that traders have previously been , Echourouk news website reports.

Facebook and Ouedkniss.com, an Algerian classified ad site, offer traders platforms to post pictures of their livestock from the comfort of their homes.

An ad posted on Ouedkniss on 7 August showed which were for sale at "an excellent price".

Another trader advertising livestock on the same site offered to transport sheep, calves and even horses to prospective buyers.

Facebook pages are also being used across Algeria.

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Some six million animals are destined for slaughter this year in Algeria, compared with four million in previous years, and the National Federation of Farmers has stressed that sacrifices are for Algerians.

Speaking to Echourouk, one farmer said that he had used the internet to sell 23 sheep for a total of 500,000 dinars ($4,215; £3,260); while another said he had gone online offering the free delivery of Eid kebabs to major Algerian cities.

This year's Eid al-Adha will start on the evening of 21 August. The second most important festival in the Muslim calendar after Eid al-Fitr, which immediately follows the fasting month of Ramadan, it is focused around animal sacrifice but is also a time when Muslims travel to the Saudi city of Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

Reporting by Samia Hosny and Alistair Coleman

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