![](https://www.longwarjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_20150905_115229-e1441474741400.jpg)
AQIM battalion claims ‘fewer than 10’ members defected to Islamic State
Yesterday, the Islamic State claimed that AQIM’s entire Al Ansar Battalion in Algeria had defected. In a statement released online today, AQIM responds by saying that fewer than 10 fighters from the battalion have joined Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s cause.