Algerian Offensive Against AQIM Underway

Published : Monday, January 03 2011 15:02

ALGIERS, Algeria, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The Algerian army is conducting its biggest offensive in years against al-Qaida forces in the north across the Kabylie mountains and reportedly disrupted a major plot to use cellphone-detonated explosives in a bombing campaign.

There were reports that some top leaders of the group, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, have been killed but these haven't been confirmed.

The military has maintained a security blackout on the operation since it was launched Dec. 9 with some 5,000 troops, including Special Forces and helicopter gunships.

However, Algerian newspapers have given the land and air campaign a lot of coverage in recent days."It's not a limited campaign," a senior official was quoted as saying. "It will continue for some time, possibly until late January."

Algiers newspapers report that 2,000 more troops are scheduled to reinforce the operation in which a large group of militants are besieged by the military in AQIM's northern stronghold.The offensive was triggered by the capture of two militants in early December.

They told interrogators that a major gathering of AQIM chieftains was planned at Sidi Ali Bounab, 70 miles east of Algiers, presided over by AQIM's overall commander, Abdelmalek Droukdel.The military had announced no results from the extensive operations but newspapers have reported that more than 20 militants have been killed.Droukdel, aka Abu Mousaab Abdelwadoud, has maintained the group's northern headquarters there for some time.There have been unconfirmed reports that Droukdel, 40, was among the militants killed in the offensive. He has been reported slain several times before but and always turned alive although he appears to have been badly wounded in 2009.

The Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank that monitors global terrorism, quoted Algerian security sources as saying the meeting was intended to organize a force to be sent to the Sahara Desert to block a planned coup by AQIM's southern command.

The aim was to depose Droukdel and set up an independent emirate in the Sahara and the adjacent semi-arid Sahel region, Jamestown reported.Droukdel took over the militant group known as the Islamic Group for Preaching and Combat in 2004 and led it into an alliance with al-Qaida in 2006.

He has been unchallenged until recently. AQIM's southern "emir," or leader, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, Droukdel's former lieutenant, has emerged as a rival and has garnered tens of millions of dollars in ransom for European -- and Arab -- hostages his fighters have seized.Western counter-terrorism specialists have viewed Abu Zeid as a possible successor to Droukdel, who is ideologically close to the core al-Qaida leadership holed up in northern Pakistan.

His main base is believed to be in the hill country along the Algeria-Mali border deep in Sahel, where U.S. intelligence considers him a serious threat in the mineral-rich region of northwest Africa.AQIM is the only al-Qaida affiliate operating in Africa, with the possible exception of al-Sahaab in Somalia.

It has been expanding its operations across the region. It's viewed in some quarters as a threat to Europe.Algeria is leading the fight against the Algerian-led jihadists. France declared war on AQIM in July after Abu Zeid beheaded a 78-year-old French hostage, Michael Germaneau.That happened after seven of Abu Zeid's men were killed during an abortive attempt by French Special Forces and Mauritanian troops to rescue the ailing Germaneau.

Overall, Abu Zeid has been blamed for the abduction of more than 20 Europeans since 2008.They include five French citizens kidnapped at the French uranium mining operation at Arlit in Niger. They remain in captivity, reportedly in neighboring Mali.The Americans are sufficiently concerned about the threat Abu Zeid poses that they supplied electronic intelligence on him to their French counterparts.

The Algerian offensive initially targeted suspected hideouts in forests and scrubland near Sidi Ali Bounab, southwest of the town of Tizi-Ouzou, 65 miles east of Algiers.On Dec. 10, the military jammed three mobile phone networks for six days, the first time such a shutdown had been ordered in the fight against the Islamists.The objective apparently was to ensure that the militants couldn't communicate or electronically detonate the bombs they were reported to be planning for Tizi Ouzou and the nearby towns of Boumerdes and Bouira.

The Rest @ PoliTimes

Algiera Prepares for Ramadan by Claiming AQIM success

Algerians celebrate Ramadan2009-08-21 14:19

Boumerdes - Despite ongoing Islamist militant attacks, Algerians relaxing at the seaside are more concerned by the rising cost of meat and vegetables at the start of Ramadan than security.
"Security is far from being our main concern," said Abdelalik, who sat with his wife at a seafront cafe in Boumerdes, an hour's drive from Algiers, with the Islamic fasting month to begin on Saturday.

"I'm mostly concerned about making it to the end of the month, with Ramadan coming and the start of the school year" set for September 13, he said.

Algerians spend a fortune on food for the traditional breaking of the fast, held every day at sunset during the holy month. And prices of fruit, vegetables and meat all "go up every year during Ramadan" , Abdelalik said.

But not everyone can afford the traditional sumptuous feasts, with 1.2 million disadvantaged families getting help from the state this year.
Militant attacks

"Security? That's a funny question. We don't even give it a thought," said a youth, on his way to the town's vast, parasol-spotted beach with three friends.

They walk away from further questions, preferring to make the most of the Mediterranean waters ahead of Ramadan, when daytime bathing is prohibited.

Despite the apparent nonchalance, the area around Boumerdes, along with Tizi Ouzou to the east, are classified "red" because of the number of militant attacks by armed groups including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).

• Police are omnipresent on main roads, setting up checkpoints along avenues in Boumerdes which is nevertheless enjoying a real estate boom.
• The traffic jams are hellish and resorts along the coast have had their "No Vacancy" signs out since the start of the summer holiday season.

Bombing at a beach

Right up to the last day before Ramadan, families relax in the shade of parasols on one of the beaches at Tigzirt, near Tizi Ouzou, where a policeman was killed by a bombing at a beach observation post days earlier.

The "Delphine" security plan, implemented every year to protect places of summer recreation will remain in place throughout Ramadan.

But "there will not be any special measures" because police "are mobilised throughout the year, whether during Ramadan or any other time," national security director Ali Tunsi said in the run-up the Muslim holy month.

Algerian newspapers said security forces were relentlessly battling militant groups claiming allegiance to Aqim.

Helicopter gunships

Unconfirmed reports said at least 50 militants have been killed, captured or given themselves up since the beginning of August.

A broad ground operation follows every militant attack, backed by helicopter gunships to target the scrubland where the Islamists might be hiding.

Troops regularly sweep through vast areas in the coastal region after attacks on military convoys, such as an ambush on July 29 that killed at least 11 soldiers near the popular resort of Tipaza.

The REst @ News 24/ SAPA

AQIM has been Quiet Since the Plague

This is a somewhat painful-to-read translation of an article from a an Algerian French language Newspaper, discussing their investigation into the dismanteling of some AQIM logistics teams in the Tizi Ouzou Region of Nothern Algeria, an AQIM stronghold.

This was first published on February 1st, 2009. In context, this was about when a number of AQIM Mujahadeen surrendered because of a black plaque outbreak in This same region.

- Shimron Issachar


Kept in total secret, the key to this "war chest" are held by one terrorist leader, in this case Ben Ali Touati alias Abu Tammimi who visited recently.

The security forces come to get their hands on a powder keg! A huge stock of explosives of the former GSPC containing five kilograms of TNT and as nitric acid, ready for use were discovered at Timezrit, a town located 35km south-west of the wilaya of Boumerdes.

More exactly, the explosives were located in lieudit Tihachadine, located between Timezrit and Ait Yahia Moussa, an area located near the vast mass of Sidi Ali Bounab known to be a real GSPC stronghold for years.

The cache was established in the late 90s by the henchmen of Hassan Hattab, then national emir of the former GSPC.

• The former terrorists who were returning from the war in Afghanistan and then those of Iraq, have been instrumental in the establishment of the stock used in the manufacture of bombs and other explosives for attacks including the suicide bombers.
• Kept in total secret, the key to this "war chest" are held by one terrorist leader, in this case the emir of Ansar El Seriate called Ben Ali Touati alias Abu Tammimi. The location of the stock in question was revealed by the Emir who visited with weapons and baggage security services in Tizi Ouzou 17 days ago, according to a reliable source safe.
• The surrender of this veteran of Afghanistan came after the Hattab, on the one hand and the other, it would, of course, due to guéguerre [internal war?] within the Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.
• Thus, he negotiated his surrender by providing matching information of the first order to the forces of the PNA, in the image of this stock of TNT and nitric acid.

The operation of such explosives enfouillissement occurring last weekend [ 30-31 Januray?] was led jointly by the heads of the military areas of Tizi Ouzou and Boumerdes.

• This huge quantity of TNT was buried in up to 6 metal drums and the acid in plastic cans and all protected by plastic sheeting, however, our source.
• Aged forty years, Ben Ali Touati alias Abu Tammimi, Dellys east from where he was the emir of seriata of this city before he was promoted to head of the Ansar el katibet by Droukdel.
• This formidable katibet over 70 activists working in the area stretching of Isser through Timezrit, Bordj Menaiel, Naciria, Baghlia, and Dellys Tigzirt. With this umpteenth battering, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb with the latest media attack began last August, going through a very critical stage in recent months.

The security services continued their action on the ground with more confidence now that the results of destruction of GSPC are tangible.

The terrorist organization is expressed less in recent months, even in regions where it was rampant with the attacks, a few years ago.

Should also be noted that the direction of the former GSPC in the center of the country, is virtually wiped out with the surrender of the most wanted terrorist and close to Droukdel.

• In addition, tens of Logistics cells are dismantled in Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou over the last 10 days according to our source.
• At the level of massive Bounab Sidi Ali, the police have discovered and defused four bombs.
• Here, a terrorist group composed of at least fifteen elements, all close to the former head of the GSPC, expect the gun to the foot, when to go.
• These elements seem entrenched in a cave and waiting time H.
• Furthermore, according to credible sources, a terrorist refuge in a cave of Akfadou would have counted among his people, the dead, when they were hunted by the police.
• The security forces reportedly transported in a health institution that would have confirmed that they died of the plague.

Since the people of this region of Akfadou were advised not to approach the scene. One thing is certain is that the terrorists across their backs are really "in trouble".

In addition, a network of support for armed terrorist groups was dismantled in the town of Tadmait, 20 kilometers east of Tizi Ouzou, it was learned yesterday from reliable sources.

• The network in question consists of nine people including a woman.
• According to our sources, they have all been submitted to the prosecutor and five placed in custody.
• The other four are now under judicial control.

The Rest @ Lejune Algerien by way of Wikio

Orginally Feb 3,2009
CBS News
A leading member of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who had reportedly turned himself in to Algerian authorities, appeared in a new propaganda video released by the group on the Internet.

“Ali Ben Touati” who is known as Amin Abou Tammam was the commander of this attack featured in the video.

He was shown briefing other members of the group on the operation. Algerian media reported Saturday that Ben Touati had turned himself in in response to the appeal made last month by the founder of the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (SGCC) Hassan Hattab.

• Hattab had then issued a statement calling on AQIM operatives to lay their arms down and take advantage of the government amnesty program launched by President Abdulaziz Bouteflika.

The video also demonstrates some of the group’s weaknesses.

• The group said it shows an attack on the headquarters of Algerian municipal guards in al Shari’a village, in Tizi Ouzou, but it seems that unexpected resistance from the soldiers barricaded inside the base has foiled the gang’s plan.
• The video, dated January 2009, opens with some reconnaissance footage captured by group members ahead of the attack.
• This was followed by pictures of group members preparing for the attack; getting their explosives ready and reviewing the attack’s plan with their chief.
• Shaky night pictures then showed the men as they launched their assault on the building and a heavy gunfire exchange taking place between the two sides.

Although the tape was meant to be a propaganda video and prove the group’s strength, it did not include pictures to support the claim that the group’s members had broken into the base after all the soldiers had either been killed or ran off.

It seemed like AQIM’s men were unable to move inside the base and two of the group’s members had been shot. Moreover, the group did not show any seized “booty” as it usually does in its video.

• The video also demonstrates the lack of basic medical supplies available to the group.
• One of the men who were wounded during the battle was shown conscious on the tape and didn’t seem to be in critical condition. But he succumbed to his wounds.
• The other had the wound on his head covered with bandages and his arms rubbed with olive oil!
• The video also featured pictures of a leading member of group who recently turned himself in to Algerian authorities.
• “Ali Ben Touati” who is known as Amin Abou Tammam, was the commander of this attack and was shown briefing other members of the group.

Algerian media reports said on Saturday that Ben Touati had turned himself in, in response to the appeal made last month by the founder of the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (SGCC) Hassan Hattab.

Hattab had then issued a statement calling on AQIM operatives to lay their arms down and take advantage of the government amnesty program launched by President Abdulaziz Bouteflika.

The Rest @ cbsnews

AQIM Plague Survivors may be moving intto Bejaia and Jijel provinces

Possibly Infected Survivors of the Plage may have moved into Bejaia and Jijel provinces of Algeria after their caves in Tinzi Ouzou were abandoned/

Words from the Emirs in the field seems to be they are terrified, and are — hoping the plague did not go with them .

The Rest @ The Sun.

AQIM brings Plague to Tizi Ouzou, Algeria?

40 al-Qaeda terrorists dead after exposure to the plague: report
Peter Goodspeed, National Post Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
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Seven years after they transformed George W. Bush's presidency, al-Qaeda terrorists are pushing to the top of his successor's priority list.

The very day Barack Obama was sworn in as President, warning Americans "our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," there were reports an al-Qaeda affiliate recently abandoned a training camp in Algeria after 40 terrorists died from being exposed to the plague during a biological weapons test.

The report, which first surfaced in the British tabloid newspaper The Sun, claims members of al-Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQLIM) hurriedly abandoned their cave hideouts in Tizi Ouzou province, 150 kilometres east of the Algerian capital Algiers, after being exposed to plague bacteria.

The newspaper said they apparently became infected while experimenting with biological weapons.

• Algerian security forces discovered the body of a dead terrorist alongside a road near the abandoned hideout.
• U.S. intelligence officials, speaking anonymously to the Washington Times newspaper on Tuesday, could only confirm the sudden base closure after an unconventional weapons test went wrong.
• The officials said they intercepted an urgent communication in early January between the AQIM leadership and al-Qaeda's top leaders in the tribal region of Pakistan.
• The Algerian terrorists said they were abandoning and sealing off a training area after a leak of a chemical or biological substance.

There are two types of plague. Bubonic plague, which is spread by bites from infected rat fleas, killed a third of Europe's population in the 14th century but can now be treated with antibiotics.

Pneumonic plague is less common but more deadly. It is spread, like the flu, by airborne bacteria, and can be inhaled and transmitted between humans without the involvement of animals or fleas.

The Rest @ The National Post

Alert: - Watch anyone Coming to Europe or US From Algeria

• On Monday, the Sun ran a story reporting that 40 terrorists from AQIM had died of plague in a terrorist training camp in Tizi Ouzou.
• U.S. intelligence community (unofficially confirmed) that an incident had taken place at a training camp that had to be shut down as a result. (deaths unconfirmed)
• 60 terrorists from AQIM from Tizi Ouzou just decided they wanted to surrender to the authorities

email me if you want sources

AQIM Kidnaps and Murders Mayor Bouchibane of Timezrit, East of Algiers, Algeria

This is an area very near al AQIM Stronghold in the Tizi Ouzou area. I strongly suspect AQIM in this act. AQIM and Shabaab, both al Qaueda Franchises are very competitive. If you chart their attacks in the last two years, you will find one will plan and carry out an attack in response to the news of an attack by the other.

-Shimron Issachar

ALGIERS (AFP) — Armed Islamists have assassinated the mayor of a northern Algerian town after kidnapping him, the interior ministry said in a statement Thursday.

Security forces found the body of Timezrit mayor Fateh Bouchibane along with a charred vehicle belonging to the local government, the ministry said in a statement reported by the APS news service.

Bouchibane was kidnapped late Wednesday by an unspecified armed Islamist group at an intersection in Tifra, some 263 kilometres (163 miles) east of Algiers, it said.

In recent months, Algeria has witnessed a wave of attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda's north African offshoot, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The Rest @ AFP

AQIM Remains Desperat for Kidnappings to be Profitable

(Said Jameh , Magharebia) 2008-10-17

Algerian security forces have caused disruption in al-Qaeda's support networks and, cornered by persistent search operations, terrorists have found it hard to lure new recruits. For a desperate AQIM, ransoms have replaced extortion and banditry as a way to finance terror.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is suffering from financial problems and a severe shortage of personnel, Algerian security forces have observed in recent weeks.

• Terrorists have been forced to resort to abducting civilians and demanding ransoms as a new way to generate money.
• In late 2005, when two civilians were held for ransom in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou, no one could have known that a kidnapping wave across Algeria was about to begin, Le Quotidien d'Oran noted on October 12th.
• "Today, not a week passes without a case of kidnapping reported in the region," the paper added.
• On average, Algeria registered one kidnapping for ransom each day last year, Interior Minister Nourredine Yazid Zerhouni told the Senate in May. "In total, 375 cases of kidnapping were registered in 2007…115 having a relationship with terrorism," he said.

Terrorists routinely extorted money from landowners, but with the improvement of security conditions people refused to give in to blackmail. Criminals and terrorists then turned to another method to obtain much-needed funds: kidnapping.

• Magharebia interviewed security expert Mouloud Merchedi about this growing phenomenon and what it means for al-Qaeda.
• "Money and weapons were, and still are, the decisive factor in determining who wins the leadership of these organisations, which are controlled by no rules other than power," he said, citing how al-Qaeda terrorists holding two Austrian tourists since February 22nd hope to profit from their acts.
• "Should the kidnappers manage to receive the ransom they have demanded from Austrian authorities for the release of the two tourists, the money will be used to buy more weapons and to consolidate the ranks of the armed group by luring new recruits."

."...The objective, he said, is for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to "include the whole North African region".

They are betting on a large ransom for the safe return of Wolfgang Ebner and girlfriend Andrea Kloiber to beef up their finances.

According to Merchedi, the terrorist group was decimated by a crackdown imposed on its logistics and support operatives by Algerian security forces, particularly in AQIM's "second district" (Algiers and the capital's surrounding suburbs), considered one of the most prominent strongholds of al-Qaeda.

Ambassadors to Mali Abdelkrim Gheraieb of Algeria, Reinhard Schwarzer of Germany and Michel Reveyrand-de Menthon of France (right) met in Bamako in March 2008. The three countries are working closely with Austria to find a solution to the kidnapping of two

Algerian authorities will not be pleased if Austria accedes to the kidnappers' demands, experts agree. The authorities are convinced that the money will be used to buy weapons, an expectation later confirmed when two trucks loaded with weapons, bound for al-Qaeda strongholds in the Kabylia region, were seized coming across Algeria's southern border with Mali.

Eight months after the tourists' kidnapping, "pressures are mounting on Austrian authorities to accelerate the release of the two hostages", he said.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers have relinquished previous demands for the release of al-Qaeda leaders held in Algerian and Tunisian prisons, including Amari Saifi, a.k.a. Abderrazzak El Para, the mastermind of a large-scale tourist abduction in 2005, and Abdelfetah Abou Bassir, the architect of the bombings against the Government Palace in April 2007.

The armed group's demand for the release of their jailed leaders was mere posturing, since the kidnappers knew full well that neither Algerian nor Tunisian authorities would meet their demands, security expert Ghoumrassa Bouelame told Magharebia.

Observers see the situation as a repeat of El Para's 2005 kidnapping of 32 German, Austrian and Swiss tourists. The German government ultimately paid a ransom estimated at 5 million euros.

Terrorists used that money to buy weapons and ammunition, which they then smuggled across the southern border with Mali to northern Algeria.

The case of the two kidnapped Austrian nationals shows how desperate the Maghreb branch of al-Qaeda has become.

Little has changed since 2006, when its leader, Abdelmalek Droukdel, sent an urgent message to Osama bin Laden wherein he complained that the North African group's lack of funds prevented it from attracting new recruits. Operations would decline, he warned, if he did not receive money as soon as possible.

Out of desperation, the terror group began to form bandit teams tasked with robbing farmers, especially in Boumerdès, Tizi Ouzou and the Metija Valley, south of the capital. This was followed by kidnapping operations against wealthy people, contractors and their children.

Algerian media reports new abductions every week.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb uses ransoms to finance attacks, including suicide operations that require more resources.

The money also pays salaries, especially for married terrorists, and lures young men into joining armed groups on promises of improving their families' living standards.

In its October 9th issue, Echorouk reported that the suspicions of security authorities were aroused when many families in Tizi Ouzou and Boumerdès suddenly appeared wealthier.

• Investigators looking into the source of the new wealth found only one common denominator: each family included a relative who had recently joined the terrorist group.
• While some Algerian families profit from an association with al-Qaeda, others find themselves forced to purchase the safe return of a loved one.
• In one such case reported October 9th by El Khabar newspaper, a contractor from Khenchela paid 200 million centimes for the release of his son. Soon after paying the ransom, he was imprisoned for failing to report the kidnapping and thus enabling terrorists to obtain money.
  

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Indeed, many wealthy individuals have changed their habits to thwart the plans of kidnappers. Others have even opted to surround themselves with bodyguards.

Faced with a spike in recorded kidnappings in recent months, Algerian authorities recently took decisive action to halt this phenomenon or at least mitigate its magnitude.

To keep the families of abductees from paying terrorists' ransom demands, security officers closely monitor all bank accounts belonging to kidnap victims and their relatives, Liberte reported on October 12th.

Authorities may even temporarily block the accounts if they learn of plans to give money to terrorists. Officials hope the plan proves to be a daunting deterrent to terrorist groups and other kidnappers, the newspaper added.

The Rest @ Magharebia

AQIM MOves into a ombing Offensive

August 20th 2008
COUNTRY BRIEFING

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

Some 60 people have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions over two days in a region to the south-east of Algiers, marking a major escalation in the activity of Islamist underground groups that have acquired new purpose since affiliating with al-Qaida in 2006. The upsurge in violence appears to reflect the concern of al-Qaida's leadership to open up new fronts in the Middle East and North Africa after the serious setbacks that the movement has suffered in Iraq. Some Algerian commentators have also blamed the escalation on the government's reconciliation policy, thereby raising questions over whether the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, should be allowed to stay on for a third term.

The heaviest casualties from the latest attacks occurred when a suicide bomber exploded his vehicle outside a gendarmerie training college in Issers on August 19th where a large number of prospective new recruits were waiting for the gates to open. The government said that 43 people were killed and 45 injured. The next day there were two car bomb explosions in the nearby town of Bouira. The first, outside a military building, left four soldiers lightly wounded, according to the official Algerian Press Service. The second exploded outside a hotel, and killed 11 people. It was reported that the hotel was being used to house contractors working on the nearby Koudiet Acerdoune dam project. Companies from Canada, Turkey and Italy have been involved in this project, but it was not immediately clear whether any foreign nationals were among the casualties.

Summer offensive

In the first half of 2008 there was a lull in attacks by Islamist groups as the security forces stepped up their operations following the mid-December bombing of the UN headquarters in Algiers, which, together with another attack in the capital on the same day, left 41 people dead. However, there has been a marked increase in attacks in recent weeks. On August 3rd a police station in Tizi Ouzou, the capital of the Kabylia region, was damaged in a suicide bomb attack, leaving 25 people injured; six days later eight people—all civilians—were killed in an attack on a police station in Zemmouri al-Bahri, a seaside town to the east of Algiers; and the following day three policemen were killed in a bomb attack on the nearby beach of Tigzirt. On August 15th an army patrol was ambushed near Skikda, in the northeastern corner of Algeria and several soldiers, including one senior officer, were reported to have been killed.

All of these attacks are presumed to be the work of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the new incarnation of the Groupe salafiste pour la prédication et le combat (GSPC). Prior to the proclamation of AQIM by Abdelmalek Droukdal, the former leader of the GSPC, with the blessing of Ayman al-Zawahri, al-Qaida's number two, Algeria's armed Islamist forces appeared to be close to extinction.

The bulk of these forces had been neutralised as a result of a truce with the army that went into effect in 1999, at the start of Mr Bouteflika's first term. Mr Bouteflika sought to persuade the remaining militants to lay down their arms in response to his Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was approved in 2005, and which offered an amnesty for fighters as well as exempting members of the security services from prosecution. A hard core of the GSPC rejected the charter, and there is some evidence that the ranks of the movement may even have been swelled as a result of the government's release of more than 2,000 former militants as part of the Charter's provisions.

Mr Droukdal has presented the mission of AQIM as being to contribute to al-Qaida's global campaign by attacking Western interests in Algeria. These interests are clearly taken to include the Algerian security forces.

In denial

Mr Bouteflika has largely refrained from commenting on the increase in Islamist violence since AQIM's emergence, and has left it to his interior minister, Yazid Zerhouni, to present the government's view. Mr Zerhouni has consistently sought to downplay the significance of AQIM attacks, and has claimed on several occasions over the past two years that the group's resort to suicide bombings was a sign of desperation. Following the Issers attack, Mr Zerhouni was quoted as saying that AQIM was riven with divisions and rivalries, and that the recent incidents were a sign of rival factions trying to outbid each other.

Mr Bouteflika's concern to downplay the Islamist terrorist threat could reflect his sensitivity on the subject of his reconciliation initiative. The Charter has manifestly failed to deliver peace and security, and it could even be blamed for exacerbating the violence by fostering a permissive attitude towards past crimes.

Mr Bouteflika also recently vented his frustration at the relatively poor performance of the Algerian economy during his time in office, pinning part of the blame for this on foreign investors, whom he accused of profiteering at Algeria's expense. It has long been assumed that Mr Bouteflika would push through the necessary changes to the constitution to enable him to stand for a third term in April 2009. However, with security deteriorating and the economy failing to perform to its potential, the record of Mr Bouteflika's first two terms is looking steadily less impressive, and there are some indications that powerful figures in the military and political establishment are looking for an alternative—preferably someone who will take a more resolute line on AQIM.

The Economist Intelligence Unit

Source: ViewsWire

AQIM suffering from Loss of Junior Emirs.

A suicide bomber attacked a coast guard post in the beach town of Zemmouri east of Algiers on Saturday night (August 9th), killing at least six and injuring 18.

Algerian officials say the latest suicide attack is in response to the killing of 12 al-Qaeda terrorists last week in Tizi Ouzou.

• The suicide bomber reportedly drove a car laden with explosives into the police post at 10 pm on Saturday.
• The explosion was heard in nearby towns, and damaged a number of buildings.
• "I was surprised by how powerful the blast was and thought it was an earthquake similar to the one that struck the region in 2003," El Arbi, 50, told Magharebia.

According to the interior ministry, most of the victims were civilian.
Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for similar attacks in recent weeks, the latest of which occurred on August 3rd and targeted a police station in Tizi Ouzou.

Speaking from the site of the attack on Sunday, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni told reporters that the attacker blew himself up after being shot at by a policeman who saw his car approaching.

• Zerhouni said the attack was probably in response to the "major operation" by the Algerian army in the town of Beni Douala in Tizi Ouzou that culminated in the elimination of 12 al-Qaeda terrorists, some of whom were Emirs.
• Acting on information obtained from detained al-Qaeda members, the army on Friday launched a surprise attack that security experts saw as part of the authorities' effort to move the war against terror to the "stronghold of terrorism".

The army operation reportedly took place near the forests of Tizi Ouzou in the wilaya of Boumerdès, where organisation leader Abdelmalek Droukdel is believed to be hiding.

• The army clashed with 16 more terrorists in 4 vehicles. One of the cars with four terrorists on board managed to flee.
• The interior ministry said many weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and guns, as well as a radio transceiver, were found.
  

Saturday's attack is an attempt by al-Qaeda to avenge the killing of its leaders, security affairs journalist Mounir Abi told Magharebia.

• Abi said 15 emirs have been eliminated since last year, including
• Zoheir Harik, also known as Sofiane Fassia, considered Droukdel's right hand man and in charge of procuring weapons for the organisation.

He said the attacks aim at boosting the morale of the increasingly insecure group after the severe blows dealt by the army and security forces.

He added that the group is trying to demonstrate to al-Qaeda's global leadership that they are capable of launching attacks on security forces and foreign interests.

In an internet message posted on August 6th, AQIM claimed that two attacks on August 3rd and July 23rd killed 38 policemen and army soldiers, and accused the interior minister of deceiving the public by providing a false death toll.

Zerhouni had announced earlier that the attacks killed only the suicide bombers themselves.

The Rest @ Magharebia

AQIM Suicide Bombing in Tizi Ouzou- update

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for yet another devastating suicide attack, which this time wounded some 25 people, including four police men.

A message, along with a photo indentifying the bomber as Makhlouf Abu Mariam, pictured clutching a grenade and pistol, was posted on a militant Islamist website.

• The bomber was attempting to drive a truck laden with 600 kg of explosives into a police station in the town of Tizi Ouzou in eastern Algeria but detonated his device after being prevented from coming close enough to the station.
• The explosion ripped through a nearby block of flats causing significant damage, a number of cars were also set alight according to reports in the Algerian media.
• The message issued by the group was stark, warning that "our finger is on the trigger and our convoys of martyrs are longing to rampage your bastions in defence of our Islamic nation".
• The group said the bombing should be a warning to the "sons of France", "the slaves of America and their masters".
• The Islamists recently vowed to step up attacks against the government which it accuses of colluding with the United States and Western states against the Algerian people

The Rest @ Lexis Nexis

Mourad Seghir Killed by Algerian Security Forces

in a car bomb targeting a police station in the centre of Tizi Ouzou Sunday morning (August 3rd). The blast came days after authorities reportedly killed al-Qaeda's principal financer in Algeria.

Residents of the city's Elkalitousse district woke up to the sound of the blast at approximately 5:00am. The police station is reportedly situated near a military barracks and a dormitory for intelligence personnel.

The explosion left 25 people injured, including four policemen. The only person to die was the suicide bomber himself, who was driving an explosives-laden car from neighbouring Boumerdès wilaya.

The bomber's body parts were strewn about the scene of the attack.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and carried the injured to the city hospital for treatment. Hospital officials said Sunday evening that 24 of the 25 injured people were discharged from the hospital. One victim underwent minor surgery.

Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni and General Director of National Security Ali Tounsi arrived to inspect the situation shortly after the bombing was announced.
Eyewitnesses said damage from the attack might have been more extensive had it taken place days ago, as the dormitory was emptied last week when agency personnel moved to a new building.

Speaking to the press, the interior minister said the intelligence agency had been targeted because of the role it played in killing several important members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) over the past two years.

Several similar attacks in recent months have been blamed on the terror organisation, led by Abdelmalek Droukdel.

• Security experts say that with the success of Algeria's intelligence agencies in penetrating the ranks of al-Qaeda, a number of key terrorists have been eliminated.
• AQIM second-in-command Samir Sayoud, alias Samir Abou Mosaab, was killed in April 2007. \
• Droukdel's top aide and military advisor Ali Dix was eliminated in July of the same year.
• In October, the authorities dismantled the terrorist cell responsible for the April 11th attacks and killed the mastermind of the operation, Zoheir Harik.
• And in April of this year, they killed Abderahmane Bouzegza, emir of the Farouq Battalion.
  

The most recent elimination of a top al-Qaeda terrorist was that of Mourad Seghir, aka El Pompier, by Algerian security forces on July 31st.

A former fire fighter, 43 year old Segir was AQIM's principal financer in Algeria, security forces say. El Pompier terrorised the local population, kidnapping the wealthy and demanding taxes from the poor. Those who did not pay the ransoms or taxes were threatened with death, or their crops destroyed, sending them into financial ruin.

El Pompier and his assistant Ben Dahman Muhamad were killed early Thursday morning when police stormed the downtown Boumerdès apartment where the two were hiding. Kalashnikovs and more than 20 million dinars in ransom and blackmail money were found on the premises.

• The interior minister noted that many of the abductees' families had opted to call the police in lieu of paying the money demanded by the terrorists.

Had all families succumbed to the threat, Zerhouni said, al-Qaeda would have collected an additional 60 million dinars.
Residents of Boumerdès were breathing easy again after hearing the news of El Pompier's death. Le Soir d’Algerie reported on August 2nd that peasants and affluent families alike were happy to finally be rid of the terrorist, particularly with the approach of the grape harvesting season, known as a time when terror groups often threaten to sabotage crops in order to extract payments from farmers.

With the elimination of El Pompier, and the July 22nd announcement by Security Director Ali Tounsi that Algerian security services would soon cover all of the country's territory, including the Kabylia region, some security experts say the suicide attack in Tizi Ouzou was an attempt by AQIM to undercut the Algerian officials' optimism about the improved security situation in the country.

Speaking to Magharebia, security expert Bouelam Ghoumrassa said that through its most recent operation, al-Qaeda wanted to confirm that it was still able to hit and target symbols of the state.
Asking if al-Qaeda was successful in its attempt to destabilise the pillars of the Algerian state, Ghoumrassa suggested that it was not.

The Rest @ Magharebia

Algeria- Tizi Ouzou Attackers again hit Military

ALGIERS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - A bomb attack on an Algerian military convoy killed one soldier on Saturday while the head of the main secular opposition party escaped unhurt from a separate attack nearby, a security source and the political party said.

• The blasts in the Tizi Ouzou area, 60 km (40 miles) east of Algiers, were the first major attacks since Feb. 7, when suspected Islamist rebels killed eight paramilitary gendarmes in an ambush on their convoy in southeastern Algeria.
• There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions on Saturday.
  The soldier died of his wounds after being taken to hospital, the security source said. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack on the convoy.
• Karim Tabou, leader of the Socialist Forces Front party, was attacked as he drove his car on a highway, the party said, adding that gunmen also shot at Tabou and that his car was slightly damaged.
• Authorities were not immediately available for comment on either of Saturday's attacks.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa

AQIM Order of Battle for Akroun Attack in Tizi Ouzo

On September 21, al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) posted a new video titled "The Battle of Akroun" on the official AQIM website (www.qmagreb.org) and distributed it to various jihadist websites, such as al-Boraq (www.alboraq.info/forumdisplay.php), that post AQIM videos.

The video features Abu Mousab Abdel Wadoud (a.k.a. Droukdal), leader of AQIM, addressing and inspecting his fighters alongside the former emir of Katibat al-Ansar, Sofiane Fassila, who was killed in October by Algerian security forces in the province of Tizi Ouzou.

The narrator says that Droukdal participated in the alleged July 2007 Akroun attack as he happened to be in AQIM's central zone at the time.

Coordinated, Complex Attack

• In the video, four groups of fighters walk to the assembly point from allegedly different locations in an unidentified forest.
• Each group consists of seven to 25 men.
• Preparation for the attack is divided among groups each with a different assignment.
• One group is responsible for making bombs, for example, another with loading rifle magazines, and a third with inspecting RPGs.
• Approximately seven long plastic sheets (3x8 feet) covered with white powder are left in the open to dry, after which the powder is deposited into empty gas tanks cut in half to make the bombs.
• According to the narrator, 100 mujahideen participated in the Akroun attack in the province of Tizi Ouzou, including Droukdal who was present in the region at that time.

That estimate of the number of the fighters involved is supported by a careful visual count of the men in the video.

• Their ages range from approximately 25 to 40, though five of the fighters appear to be under the age of sixteen.
• According to the AQIM video statement, three fighters were killed in the attack; two of them had more than ten years of combat experience with other Algerian terrorist groups.

The Rest @ OSAC

Report on July 14 Al Qaeda Attack, Northern Algeria

On July 15, 2007 AQIM claimed reponsibility for an attack on a P0lice Station in the Tizi Ouzou district, in Northern Algeria. This is an internet account from a source I do not know, and I cannot verify these facts by any other source.

-Shimron

Algeria: Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Tizi Ouzou attackon Sunday, July 15 @ 17:00:00

CDTIn a statement published yesterday on the Internet,

• Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted a police station on July 14 in Azazgua district in Tizi Ouzou (100 Km east of Algiers).
• Although security sources said four terrorists were killed by the Algerian army, Al-Qaeda did not admit that in its statement.
• Pictures of the killed terrorists were taken in the field.
• Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said a number of gendarmes were killed and others were wounded while the Algerian army did not reveal that.
• According to observers, Al-Qaeda falsifies facts as an attempt to mislead people and armed groups to encourage terrorists and push them to perpetrate attacks.
• On the other hand, Al-Qaeda gave an incredible death toll about the suicide attack that targeted a military barracks in Lakhdaria village (120 Km east of Algiers) on last Wednesday.
• Al-Qaeda started raising doubts and waging psychological and media war in view of its failure in armed attacks, according to security experts.
• As background, the Algerian army killed 4 terrorists and wounded 17 others on July 14 in Azazgua district in Tizi Ouzou.
• The terrorists who carried Kalashnikov weapons and a RPG-7 attacked a police station in the area and a roadblock set by policemen.
• The terrorists put three hand-made bombs on a motorway near the roadblock. Once the first bomb exploded at midnight, the other one blasted at the police station.
• Then, the terrorists fired RPG shell at a wall of the police station. A clash immediately took place between gendarmes and the terrorists.
• Another terrorist group attacked a roadblock set by policemen near the police station but no one was harmed.
• At the same time, more than 60 terrorists were deployed in the area, according to eyewitnesses. Some of whom took some shopkeepers as hostages.
• At around 1:50 a.m, a military convoy came and the terrorists started withdrawing.
• Then, the army forces established an ambush for the terrorists killing four of them and wounding 17 others who run away.
• Some gendarmes were slightly wounded and taken to hospital. Four Kalashnikov weapons and a RPG-7 were recovered.

The Rest @ Echrouk online