Counterterrorism Research Library North Africa
North Africa
Al-Qaida Escalates Campaign of Violence in Algeria
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Saturday, 10 March 2007 19:00
Al-Qaida's Committee in the Islamic Maghreb--formerly known as the GSPC--has continued to escalate its latest campaign of violence in Algeria. In the past two weeks, the group has released an unprecedented flood of communiqués claiming responsibility for a flurry of bombing attacks and armed ambushes on soldiers, policemen, and foreign workers from Russia and Canada. The group also released a new statement from its top commander Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud urging members of the Algerian security forces to abandon their posts and "repent", or else be targeted for death by the mujahideen. The latest messages from Al-Qaida in the Maghreb noticeably mimick statements issued by the now-defunct Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) during the height of its military activity in 1995.
- Al-Qaida Claims 18 Simultaneous and Expansive Attacks on the Infidels (3/1)
- Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud Issues Call for Repentance from Security Forces (3/4)
- Al-Qaida Claims Bomb Attack on Russians and Raids on the Infidels (3/5)
GSPC Claims "Battle of Shaykh Abul Baraa Ahmad"
Last Updated (Saturday, 19 December 2009 01:04) Written by Evan Kohlmann Tuesday, 13 February 2007 19:00
Yesterday, the Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--now known as "Al-Qaida's Committee in the Islamic Maghreb"--claimed responsibility for a series of six car bomb attacks targeting "apostate police stations" in Tizi Ouazu and Boumerdas, "destroying 5 fortresses for the apostates, in addition to killing and wounding more than 140 of them." The statement detailed the various attacks and targets, and boasted, "their casualties are eyewitnesses to the cruel blows dealt by the soldiers of Islam. We inform the thieves and the French who follow the Christians and the Jews that the young Muslim men of the Maghreb are determined to liberate their homeland from every crusader, apostate, and co-conspirator."
- Click to view English translation of statement
"The Battle of Bouchaoui": Attack on bus carrying U.S. contractors (Dec. 10, 2006)
"Five bombings [targeting] Algerian apostates" (Feb. 14, 2007)
See also:
- [CTBLOG]: - "GSPC in Algeria Announces New Name: Al-Qaida in the Maghreb"
- [CTBLOG]: "GSPC Claims Credit for Terror Attack on Western Contractors in Algeria"
Message from GSPC in Algeria: "We Are Coming"
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Wednesday, 10 January 2007 19:00
The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--the dominant Al-Qaida sub-group active in North Africa--has released a new videotaped speech of its leader Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud dated January 3 titled, "We Are Coming." Directing his first message to Al-Qaida leader Usama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Wadoud beseeched, "only Allah knows how much we miss you, and how hard it is for us to be far from you. In the name of Allah, if we could be carried by birds, we would come to you. We remember you in our hearts and visualize you in our minds. We ask Allah to reunite us after missing you for so long." While addressing Bin Laden, Wadoud likewise declared, "We are eagerly awaiting your instructions and orders regarding the next phase."
New Statements from the GSPC in Algeria
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Friday, 31 March 2006 19:00
The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--a known Al-Qaida-affiliate group active in North Africa--has released two new communiqués on the subject of Muslim prisoners recently released by the Algerian government under an amnesty deal and, separately, the republication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed in various European newspapers and magazines. According to the GSPC, "If, in the name of freedom of speech and expression, democracy permits its followers to attack Muslim practices, defame their religion, and disgrace their prophet by means of drawings and writings, then Islam requires Muslims to retaliate against this aggression."
- 3/9/06 - GSPC issues call to freed prisoners in Algeria
- 3/22/06 - GSPC issues response to cartoons of Mohammed
GSPC Confirms Death of Senior Official in Algeria
Last Updated (Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00) Written by Evan Kohlmann Sunday, 19 February 2006 19:00
The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--a known Al-Qaida affliate group active in North Africa--has confirmed the death of a senior GSPC official Shaykh Ahmad Abul Baraa (a.k.a. Ahmad Zarabib) during a January 17 clash with Algerian military forces in the mountains of the Bejaia province east of the capital Algiers. According to the statement, Abul Baraa held rank as "the Chief of the Shariah Council and the Judiciary Council [of the GSPC] for many years and he is considered to be one of the co-founders of the GSPC."
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