Tag Archives: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Al Qaeda in in the Islamic Maghreb “took advantage of the pillaging of arsenals in the rebel zone [in Libya] to acquire arms, including surface-to-air missiles, which were then smuggled into their sanctuaries in Tenere,” the president of Chad said. A Malian official said AQIM has pilfered heavy weapons, including SAM-7s.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula kidnapped an Italian woman who was touring the desert south of the town of Djanet. Algerian security forces launched an operation in an attempt to recover her.

Abu Musab Abduwadoud, the leader of a Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, issued a message of support to Tunisians and asked them to fight alongside the terror group. “Send your sons to us to train on weapons and gain military expertise,” he said in a statement released on jihadist forums.

Two suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Islamist fighters were killed and others were wounded in clashes with Algerian authorities. Three soldiers were also injured during the clashes in the Tiffellat region, 200 kilometers from Algiers. AQIM denied that 28 members of the terror organization defected to Mauritanian authorities.

Algerian authorities killed Izza Rezki, also known as Abou Djaffar, who was a chief financial backer of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and a close aide to AQIM’s leader Abdelmalek Droukdel. Rezki was killed in the suburbs of Bourmedes after he refused to surrender. In Mauritania, 28 AQIM fighters between the ages of 14 […]

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has demanded that “any negotiations must be done with Osama bin Laden and according to his conditions” for the release of five French nationals abducted in Niger. An audio with the voice of suspected AQIM leader Abu Mossab Abdelouadoud calls for the withdrawal of all French coalition forces in […]

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is shopping for weapons in Chad and “laundering money” by buying “large tracts of land and villas in Niger, Mali, and Mauritania.” AQIM is using money obtained in illegal activities, including millions from the ransoming of European hostages.