Tag Archives: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has demanded that France repeal its recent burka ban as part of the conditions for the release of seven hostages, including five French nationals, kidnapped from Niger. Additionally, AQIM wants 7 million euros and the release of Islamists held in French prisons.

Mediators negotiating a meeting with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Mali’s Timetrine region have reported that the kidnapped female French national has cancer and her health is deteriorating rapidly. AQIM members told the mediators that she “can’t last much longer without medical treatment” and had been undergoing chemotherapy shortly before her abduction.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb released photos of the five French nationals, including the blurred face of a woman, and two African nationals who were kidnapped from Niger. The seven people were working for Areva and its construction partner, Vinci, in the uranium-rich north. Ransoms of foreigners have raised over $65 million for AQIM […]

The Mauritanian government has extradited 20 suspected al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb members who were convicted of drug trafficking after clashes with the military at the northeastern border of Mali. Suspected AQIM fighters kidnapped a merchant in Algeria’s Tizi-Ouzou.

A presidential aide to Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that the French government is willing to enter talks with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb over the release of five French nationals abducted in Niger. Malian sources say that the five French and two African hostages are alive. Five Maghreb nations are meeting to draft an […]

The French foreign ministry confirmed that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s claim of responsibility for the kidnapping of five French nationals working in Niger was genuine. AQIM claimed that it killed 19 Mauritanian soldiers during clashes in northern Mali over the weekend.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of five French nationals and two Africans in Niger. It is reported that Abu Zeid, a southern emir of AQIM, is likely behind the abductions. The kidnappings are suspected of being an inside job.

The Mauritanian army has launched an offensive against al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The fighting spilled over into northern Mali at Hassissidi. “We are presently in Malian territory and engaged in full combat,” Mauritanian security sources stated. Niger and Algerian sources have seen seven kidnapped foreign nationals, including five French nationals, being taken into […]

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed to have killed a retired Algerian customs official; the victim was actually a communal guard captured during an AQIM attack in June that killed 11 soldiers and communal guards. The AQIM group responsible is led by Abdelkrim Taleb, a Toureg Arab who is based in northern Mali. Algeria […]

Authorities confirmed that a ransom was paid and that an AQIM operative responsible for kidnapping the Spanish aid workers was released in exchange for freeing the two Spanish nationals. Details of the ransom reveal that over $5.6 million was paid to AQIM over the last few months. AQIM stated that the hostages “were set free […]

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb released the two Spanish hostages abducted in November. The Spanish aid workers were reportedly released in exchange for a militant. The extradition to Mali of an AQIM fighter convicted in Mauritania for kidnapping the three Spanish workers is suspected of being connected to the exchange.

Suspected al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters killed an Algerian soldier and injured four civilians in two roadside bomb attacks in Theniet Boussalah, Batna province. Algerian security forces launched large-scale anti-terror operations in Skikda after arrests of two men for aiding and recruiting Islamist fighters. The families of the two Spanish hostages held by […]

Malian officials reported that Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, the hardline emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in the Sahel who is responsible for the murder of Michel Germaneau and Edwin Dyer, is “doing everything possible to endanger the lives of the two Spanish hostages.” Abu Zeid allegedly wants Belmokhtar, the other Sahel emir of […]