Interrogations of the al Qaeda member planning the World Cup attacks revealed that the terror group planned to use cars bombs laced with rat poison, then gunmen would kill those aiding the wounded. It is reported that they planned to strike during the Denmark v. Netherlands match and use car bombs if they could not […]
A US-Moroccan citizen has pleaded guilty in a Kansas City, Missouri, court to providing over $23,000 to Al Qaeda. Khalid Ouazzani raised the money through bank loans and selling his apartment in the UAE. He wired the money to a co-conspirator in the UAE. He faces a maximum of 65 years in prison and $1 […]
Five people, including two Islamist fighters, have been killed in the south. Security forces killed two Islamist fighters in an hour-long gunbattle in Narathiwat province. In Yala province, two Muslim men were killed in a drive-by shootings and a Buddhist woman was murdered in her grocery store.
The army has declared its two-month-long operation against the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan and Sulu a success. The operation concluded with 15 Islamists “neutralized” over the weekend. Two police officers and two attackers were killed in Basilan in the town of Sumisip. The EU has confirmed its willingness to participate in peace talks between […]
A roadside bomb killed two soldiers and wounded 18 others traveling in a convoy in the Boumerdes region, a known Islamist stronghold 35 miles east of Algiers. Police are blaming al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for the attack, which is one of the deadliest this year.
The chief of the public works office of Tha Kam Sam tambon was shot to death on his way to work in Pattani province. In Pattani, the village chief of Moo 7 tambon Phitain of Tung Yangdaeng was also killed.
An admitted member of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who is on trial in Nouakchott has been sentenced to 10 years hard labor for being a member of the terrorist organization. Brahim Ould Ely Daoud, aka Abderrahmane Sahraoui, did not submit a plea of innocence, unlike his counterparts, and refused to recognize the court.
Five al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters have been killed by Algerian military forces in Djelfa province. The AQIM fighters were controlling a passage in the province when they became embroiled in a firefight with the army, resulting in the deaths of six soldiers, including one commander.
Two Moroccan students have been deported from Italy after the Interior Ministry deemed them a threat to national security with possible ties to Islamists. The Moroccans are suspected of expressing their desire to kill the Pope. The men studied at a university in Perugia and were placed on a Casablanca-bound flight by masked police officers […]
Three Islamist fighters were killed and one captured by the Algerian military in northeastern Algeria. The Islamists were ambushed and killed in Jijel province. Jijel province borders the Kabylia region, which has been the stronghold of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Islamist fringe groups.
Over a dozen suspected terrorist cases are being heard in Mauritanian courts in Nouakchott, including three Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb-linked men accused of killing a French teacher in Aleg on Dec. 24, 2007. Other terror-related cases are being heard related to the French murder, an attack on the Israel embassy, and individual terrorist […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released a video with an audio voice-over by the kidnapped French national, Michel Germaneau. In the video, Germaneau’s picture and identification card are visible and he verbally authenticates AQIM’s abduction. AQIM is demanding a prisoner swap for the release of the Frenchman.
The Algerian military has reported that it has surrounded a number of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leaders at Zekri, in the province of Bejaia. One of those thought to be surrounded is the leader of AQIM, Abu Mosaâb Abelouadoud, aka Abdelmalek Droukdal. The NPA is giving Droukdal and the others one last chance […]
Borno state has banned the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, from its territory. The governor outlawed the sect because of its danger to good governance and its engagement in illegal activities. Borno state was the center of Boko Haram’s violence throughout northern Nigeria in July 2009 that led to the deaths of more than 800 […]
Authorities have arrested a French-Moroccan man in a Paris suburb who is suspected of leading a terrorist cell in Morocco with intentions of conducting high-profile assassinations and espionage. The prosecutor’s office has already filed preliminary charges against Ahmed Sahnouni for “criminal association with the goal of preparing terrorist actions.”
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has taken credit for the kidnapping of the French national from northern Niger on April 22. AQIM is demanding that France apply pressure on countries in the region to “release its jailed members” in exchange for the retired French engineer, Michel Germano.
Saharan nations are conducting a major joint military exercise coordinated by the United States and joined by many European nations. Operation Flintlock, a three week operation with over 1,200 military personnel participating, is based out of a temporary command center in Bukina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou. Flintlock aims to improve Saharan nations’ capacity to collaborate in […]
The Nigerian senate has given its overwhelming support to the country’s first terrorism bill. The bill will define terrorist acts in a number of categories, including: hostile acts, hijackings, weapon proliferation and transportation, and circulating information to induce panic and evoke harm. The bill may be passed this legislative quarter. Violence in the south and […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released the Algerian driver of the French national kidnapped in the Inabagharit region of northern Niger. He was taken taken into Mali, where he was blindfolded and beaten until AQIM fighters decided to release him in the desert. The Algerian government revealed that it would have refused to […]
Moroccan authorities have identified a Moroccan-born French national as being the leader of an al Qaeda-linked cell that was dismantled in Casablanca, Berrechid, and Kenitra. The French national, identified as Ahmed Sahnouni, is suspected of leading the cell from France. Authorities previously named Youssef Toubaie, a Moroccan national, as leader of the group after the […]
As part of the new strategy against al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the army chiefs of staff of Sahel-Saharan nations have agreed to triple their joint troop levels to 75,000 security officers and soldiers at a joint military headquarters in Tamanrasset, Algeria, by 2012. They will also look to strengthen the air forces of […]
Moroccan authorities have dismantled an al Qaeda-linked cell tasked with carrying out assassinations and sabotage acts against security forces and foreign interests. Additionally, the 24-member group planned to recruit Moroccans to send to Islamist hotspots across the globe, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia. Four members of the group have previously served prison sentences for terrorist […]
The latest video by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s media arm, Al-Andalus, looks to reinforce statements in a previous video by Mabarek Yazid, aka Abu Obeida Youcef, the leader of AQIM’s Council of Worthies, to win sympathy with Muslims throughout the Maghreb nations and inspire potential Islamist sympathizers to join their cause. The recruitment […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s propaganda branch, Al Andalus Media, has released a recruitment video. Al Qaeda leaders such as al Libi, bin Laden, and Zawahiri give speachs as Muslims, such as Boko Haram, are shown being executed or beaten. The video shows young jihadists speaking about their training and an attack near the […]
Photos have been released of the French and Algerian nationals abducted by elements of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb near Inabangaret, Niger. Michel Germaneau is retired and president of an association in northern Niger. Ouaghi Abidin is from Tamanrasset, the location of the new joint anti-terror headquarters for Saharan states. AQIM has not yet […]
A French tourist and his Algerian driver have been kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Niger, near the border of Mali and Algeria. They were seized near Tiguidan Tessoun. The tourist had not declared his travel itinerary to security forces. The French government is investigating the abduction.
The Algerian army has reportedly surrounded Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb emir Abdelmalek Droukdel in Bordj Bou Arreridj, a province of the Kabylie region. This is the third attempt by Algerian forces to capture or kill the infamous terrorist leader. The attempted ambush is part of anti-terror operations being conducted nationwide in an effort […]
The Italian couple released by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has described their ordeal to the press, commenting that, “we were treated well.” They urged the European governments to cooperate with African nations to find the two Spanish hostages still held. Four Saharan nations are opening a joint command headquarters in Tarnanrasset, Algeria, to […]
An 83-year-old entrepreneur kidnapped on March 23 has been released unharmed by Islamist fighters in Ait Koufi in the Kabylie region after residents refused to pay his ransom and called a general strike against the kidnappers. Traditionally an Islamist stronghold, residents have staged an unprecedented condemnation of the Islamist activities in an effort to get […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released the Italian couple that has been held since Dec. 18, 2009, when the couple was abducted in southeast Mauritania. Sergio Cicala and his wife, Philomene Kaboure, were handed over to Malian authorities in the eastern Gao region. AQIM still holds two Spanish aid workers, who were kidnapped […]