Algeria is hosting a meeting of seven Maghreb countries in Algiers with the aim to “implement a collective strategy” in halting Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s illicit activities in the Sahara and Sahel. Additionally, they want to share information in the fight against transnational drug cartels that transport drugs through their countries. Due to […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb threatened to attack the World Cup games in South Africa. “How amazing could the match United States vs. Britain be when broadcasted live on air at a stadium packed with spectators when the sound of an explosion rumbles through the stands,” the AQIM statement read.
Islamists killed seven security contractors and one soldier during an ambush in Kabylie, near Bejaia. The security guards were killed when their vehicle came under fire, and a remotely detonated bomb killed one soldier and wounded two others investigating the attack. The security guards are contracted by Sonelgaz.
Police are on high alert in Maiduguri in the state of Borno after suspected Boko Haram members sent text messages threatening an attack. Authorities are watching the movement of suspicious people in the Nigerian states bordering Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
Twenty alleged drug traffickers linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have been charged with moving cocaine through Mauritania with the aid of the terrorist group. The men were caught along the Mali border after a gun battle with the army. The lead suspect thought to be responsible for the Spanish aid workers’ abductions […]
The Israeli man reported to be kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is a Mossad agent named Alberto and is currently in police custody. The agent was spying in Hassi Messaoud, and had been aided by four Egyptian executives at Orascom Construction. He was carrying a forged Spanish passport at the time of […]
A large quantity of food intended for use by Islamist insurgents operating between Merouana and Batna has been seized by security forces during sweeps of the forest. The security forces bombarded suspected locations of Islamist fighters ahead of the seizure.
Algerian security forces are on a manhunt for an Israeli national thought to have been kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb after being captured by armed Salafists and then sold to the terrorist group. The Israeli was heading to Hassi Messaoud, home to much of Algeria’s oil infrastructure. He apparently made contact with […]
Algerian security forces have dismantled a terrorist cell that provided logistical support to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s El Ansar Brigade in Bordj Menaïel and that also provided information about the authorities’ movements in the region. El Ansar Brigade’s former emir and nine other fighters were sentenced in absentia to life in prison by […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed credit for the suicide bombing attack on a Niger military outpost near the Niger-Mali border that killed five soldiers. In a statement titled “invasion of Sa’ad Abu Sariya,” which was named after a member of AQIM killed by Niger forces two months earlier, the group stated “we […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released a video with Mebarek Yazid, aka Abu Obeida Youcef, the chairman of the GSPC/AQIM Council of Elders speaking on behalf the group. The absence of Abdelmalek Droukdel in the video suggests that Yazid, a longstanding opponent of Droukdel, has possibly replaced him as leader of the terrorist […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has demanded $5 million and the release of AQIM members held in Mauritanian prisons for the release of the two remaining male Spanish aid workers. AQIM advised the Spanish government to meet its “legitimate demands.” The female Spanish aid worker, Alicia Gomez, was released after she “voluntarily” converted […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has released Alicia Gomez, one of three kidnapped Spanish aid workers who were taken hostage in Mauritania in November 2009. The government denied a ransom was paid, although the government is said to be in the process of transferring $5 million to AQIM for the release of the two […]
Mauritanian security forces killed three armed fighters and captured 18 more while intercepting a convoy in the northeast outside of Chegga, near the Algerian and Mali border. The convoy was in a military zone known to be used by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Large stores of drugs were found in the trucks.
Suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters have attacked a Nigerian military outpost along the border with Mali. At least five Nigerian soldiers were killed and wounded along with three assailants in the attack in the Tilwa Banibangou area before the fighters retreated into Mali.
Continued violence outside the city of Jos escalated over the weekend, leaving upwards of 500 people dead and 95 arrested as Muslim men armed with machetes attacked the largely Christian community. The police are attempting to tame the violence that is described as “reprisal” attacks for violence in the city in January.
Nigerian authorities have arrested 17 members of the Nigerian police for their extrajudicial killing of suspected Boko Haram members. The investigation into the murders was prompted by Al Jazeera’s release of footage showing police executing people suspected of being involved in the 2009 Islamist sect uprising.
Three Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terrorists were killed by Algerian security forces during operations in Keddara in Boumerdes province. The Mauritanian government has refused to negotiate with AQIM for the release of the three Spanish aid workers.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb demanded the release of “several” AQIM members in exchange for the three Spanish hostages held since November, according to the negotiator with the group. Some of the members demanded to be released are in Mauritania. The Spanish government has stated that the demands are “rumors.”
Six suspected terrorists have been arrested for belonging to a “jihadist” network. The suspects were planning to perpetrate “change through violence” in the Cherifian region. The terrorist group, made up of the six arrested members, was operating in a number of towns in the region.
The Italian couple being held by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in northern Mali will not be executed, even as the ultimatum for their life will expire on Monday. “Their fate is worrying, because the kidnappers risk not getting what they asked,” the Mali negotiator said. “But we know that at the end of […]
The Mauritanian authorities have killed three armed men and captured 18 others in a large militarized zone designated by the military as an Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operating area. The convoy of SUVs and trucks was manned by armed Mauritanian, Malian, and Algerian nationals and was reported to be carrying drugs. The affiliation […]
Malian authorities have former hostage and French national Pierre Camatte in their possession after exchanging him for four Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb members. The exchange was made before the AQIM deadline for Camatte’s execution expired. Algeria and Mauritania have withdrawn their ambassadors in protest at Mali™s actions in heeding to the demands of […]
The Spanish government will capitulate to the demands of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and pay the $5 million ransom for the release of three Spanish aid workers that are held by the terrorist organization. Unnamed sources said AQIM will be paid through a Touareg chief acting as mediator. The Spanish aid workers were […]
Algerian security forces have killed three Islamist fighters and arrested three others in separate operations in northern Algeria. Two Islamists were killed and one was arrested when security forces ambushed them in the Azeffoun district, Tizi Ouzou province. Another Islamist was killed and two more were arrested in sweeps by security forces in Dellys, Boumerdes […]
Four Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb members were released from a Mali prison in exchange for the freeing of the French hostage before the deadline for his execution expired. The AQIM fighters – two Algerians, one Mauritanian and one national from Burkino Faso – were discharged after a two-hour trial hearing in Bamako. An […]
President Mamadou Tandja has been overthrown in a coup by a group dubbed the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD). The men, presented as military officers, seized Tandja at his weekly cabinet meeting and have taken him to a nearby military barracks in the capital, Niamey. The coup risks further undermining the political […]
French Foreign Minister Benard Kouchner made a surprise visit to Mali to aid in the negotiations with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for the release of the French national, Pierre Camatte. AQIM is demanding the release of its members held in Mali prisons in exchange for the French national, and have set a Feb. […]
Two Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters have been arrested by Mauritanian authorities. The two men were arrested after exchanging fire with authorities from three vehicles in northeast Zouerate. The AQIM members were entering the country from Mali.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has extended the deadline to Feb. 20 for the hostage exchange of the French national, Pierre Camatte, for four AQIM members held in Mali prisons. AQIM set March 1 as the deadline for the exchange of the Italian national, Sergio Cicala, for an undisclosed number of AQIM members.