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 […]
African army chiefs unite against desert terrorism
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 […]
Algerians shake off insurgents’ stranglehold of fear
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.
Africa looks to nuclear power
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 […]
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 […]
Libya frees more than 200 Islamist prisoners
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 […]
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 fighters and one soldier were killed during a clash in Tipaza province. Security forces detained eight suspected terrorists during a raid in M’sila province.
Seven suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters were killed during clashes with security forces in the Djefia region. The fighters were killed in the town of Charek while security forces conducted anti-terror operations. More than of 50 Islamist fighters have been reported killed since December 2009.
Security forces have reportedly surrounded Yahya Djouadi, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s leader in the Sahel and Sahara regions, along with two deputies and three fighters in the El Marra region. Police and Army forces moved against Djouadi, who is also known as Yahya Abu Ammar, after receiving intelligence on his location.
Increased security checks at US airports slammed as racial profiling
The US released two Algerians, Hasan Zemiri and Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili, from the Guantánamo Bay detention facility in Cuba and returned them to Algeria. “The United States coordinated with the government of Algeria to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures,” a Justice Department statement said.
Italy: North Africa poses ‘greatest terrorist threat’
Unidentified Islamists have killed the Algerian military commander of Bajaia district in Bejaia province and an army colonel at Allaghane, 250km east of Algiers. Two Islamists were killed the night before when authorities ambushed their vehicle at Boudjelil. Two Islamists escaped the ambush.
Al Qaeda linked to rogue aviation network
Ten Islamic fighters have been killed by Algerian security forces after a tip-off led to the authorities intercepting their vehicles in a rural region near the village of Slim. A “large quantity” of weapons was seized from the vehicles. Security officials state that 30 Islamists have been killed over the last month.
An engineer working for the Canadian corporation SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. was kidnapped by five armed gunmen on the way to work. The abducted engineer was forced into the car of the gunmen in Djebahia, 150km from Algiers. The engineer was working on a water treatment plant. Police are negotiating for the employee™s release.
One Algerian soldier was killed when a roadside bomb planted by Islamists exploded 40km east of Tizi Ouzou in northeastern Algeria. Two civilians were injured in the explosion as well. Security forces hunting Islamists in the area have defused a number of home-made roadside bombs in the last few days.
The Algerian military is sending 3,000 additional troops to its borders with Mali, Niger, and Mauritania in an effort to thwart Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb™s movement across the border. The lockdown will restrict border crossings into Algeria to just eight, and will be supplemented with additional military patrols, new surveillance spots, and permission […]
West Africa – US prosecution links drugs to terrorism
Algerian security forces killed four Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb members. The fighters were caught driving towards Msila, 250 km southeast of Algeria, when they were ambushed. Security forces have conducted a number of operations in the past weeks, killing over 20 Islamists and capturing numerous others.
Ten suspected Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb members have been arrested in separate raids in Algiers and Setif. The four men arrested in Setif are suspected of providing logistical support for AQIM while the six members in Algiers are accused of extorting money from small businesses in the capital to finance the terrorist organization.
More than 20 Islamist fighters have been surrounded by Algerian authorities in three operations in Boumerdes province. Security forces killed four Islamist fighters in Bouira, one of whom was a Libyan. A 30-man network that supported Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was apprehended outside the city of Constantine; the men’s roles in the terrorist […]
Two suspected members of an extremist group held for seven years in Guantanamo Bay have been acquitted by an Algerian court. The men allege that they were “brutally tortured” in Guantanamo. They were arrested in Pakistan after 9/11 and sent home to Algeria last year; on Sunday, an Algerian court acquitted them of charges of […]
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has been recruiting Algerian fighters returning from Iraq. Upwards of 60 well-trained former Iraqi fighters may have joined the terrorist organization since 2007. Many of the returning fighters are recruited from Oued Souf, Batna, and Misla in Algeria. Several students are believed to be among those joining AQIM.
Muslim countries seek blasphemy ban