Algeria Again? Contemporary affairs
Interesting story in BBC here.
Quote:
The militants carried out a rocket attack on an army post, killing five soldiers, while 10 Islamists reportedly died in an army counter-attack.
A BBC correspondent in Algeria says this is the most serious Islamist attack for several months.
They are thought to belong to a group now renamed "al-Qaeda in the Maghreb".
Earlier this week, the Salafist Group of Preaching and Combat (GSPC) announced that it had changed its name.
This latest clash comes amid repeated calls by the army to the general population to help them in their fight against armed militants.
This also comes after the Algerian government tried a limited amnesty program.
Islamist Terrorism in Northwestern Africa
Feb 07 Policy Focus from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy:
Islamist Terrorism in Northwestern Africa: A 'Thorn in the Neck' of the United States?
Quote:
...Sahelian Africa as a whole is not a hotbed of Islamic radicalism. But a unique mélange of international trends and local circumstances makes the region an attractive area of operations for Islamist terrorists. Locally, political Islam has already become a vehicle of protest against undemocratic regimes, giving rise to Islamically motivated political violence in Algeria, Nigeria, and Morocco that is still simmering. The global trend of Islamic revivalism and—on the extreme end of the spectrum—the metamorphosis and spread of al-Qaeda’s ideology have exacerbated local conflicts and flavored the expression of political grievances. As these developments intersect in northwestern Africa, they facilitate terrorists’ efforts to blend with the local population....
And what about right next door in Morocco???
From the BBC yesterday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6540369.stm)
Quote:
'Bombers' die in Casablanca raid
The police raid took place in an impoverished residential area
A police raid on suspected militants in the Moroccan city of Casablanca has set off gunfights and suicide bombings that have left at least five men dead
One wonders how this maps to the events in Algeria.
I also heard that Algeria recently declined when asked to be the host country for the US AFRICOM HQ.
Al Qaeda of the Maghrib takes credit for attacks in Algeria
Quote:
In a statement posted this morning on the internet, a group calling itself Al Qaeda of the Maghrib has taken credit for a series of attacks in Algeria.
The posting includes three photographs of the young men who they claim carried out the three suicide attacks.
…
Quote:
The first target was the headquarters of the apostate government in the capital Algiers where the martyr Muath Bin Jabal drove a truck filled of 700 kg of explosives storming in on the apostates in their fortress and according to our own sources killing about 45 and injuring an unknown number of them, destroying a part of the building
The second target was the headquarters on the international INTERPOL in the capital Algiers (the gate of Zuwar) where the martyr Al-Zubeir Abu Sajeda drove a truck filled with 700 kg of explosives and he stormed in the den of the tyranny and infidelity and those who are fighting Jihad and he was able with God's blessing to destroy it completely killing at least eight apostates and injuring an unknown number of them
The third target was the headquarters of the special forces of the Police in Ezzouar Gate in the capital where the martyr Abu Dujana drove a truck filled with 500 kg of explosives storming the apostate fortress and he was able with God's blessing to destroy it completely killing and injuring a large number of the apostates.
…
http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/
Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers
Interesting press reaction - well worth reading the entire dispatch.
Quote:
Special Dispatch-North Africa/Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project
April 17, 2007
No. 1546
Reactions in the Algerian and Arab Press to the Al-Qaeda Attacks in Algiers
To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD154607 .
The suicide bombings in Algeria on April 11, 2007, the first spectacular attack carried out by the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, brought the region to the forefront of the headlines in the Arab press - especially as they occurred in tandem with a number of abortive suicide bombings in Casablanca. In Algeria, fears for the future were underscored by memories of the dark years of the 1990s, and the press was unanimous in calling for concerted action against terrorism. Many also criticized government policies, in particular the National Reconciliation plan, which aims to reintegrate radical Islamists into society.
In the international Arab press, well-known commentator 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed criticized what he described as fallacious assumptions about the root causes of terrorism, saying that the terrorists are driven by religious extremism, and not by poverty, nor by the lack of democracy - which, he emphasized, they consider to be heresy.
From Iraq to Algeria, Al-Qaeda's Long Reach
30 May Washington Post - From Iraq to Algeria, Al-Qaeda's Long Reach by Craig Whitlock.
Quote:
Al-Qaeda has rapidly extended its influence across North Africa by aiding and organizing local groups that are demonstrating a renewed ability to launch terrorist attacks in the region, such as the triple suicide bombings that killed 33 people here last month, according to counterterrorism officials and analysts.
The bombers who struck the Government Palace and a police station in Algiers, the capital, are believed to have been local residents. But Algerian authorities are examining evidence that the bombers were siphoned from recruiting pipelines that have sent hundreds of North African fighters to Iraq and perhaps were trained by veterans of the Iraqi insurgency, U.S. and European intelligence officials said...
Group in Algeria Turned To Al-Qaeda for Assistance
30 May Washington Post - Group in Algeria Turned To Al-Qaeda for Assistance by Craig Whitlock.
Quote:
Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Algeria was originally called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, a name derived from a fundamentalist branch of Islam. Founded in 1998, six years after the outbreak of a civil war that has killed an estimated 200,000 Algerians, the group's stated mission was to topple the military-backed government and transform Algeria into a theocracy.
Despite pledges to avoid civilian targets, the Algerian Salafists experienced a steady erosion in popular support and saw their ranks dwindle to fewer than 1,000 fighters, according to Algerian officials...
With the organization on the ropes, Droukdel decided to intensify efforts to reach out to al-Qaeda and other extremist networks, according to U.S. and European intelligence officials...