Maghreb economies confront terror fallout

Foreign Minister Medelci claimed that the Algerian diplomats held hostage in Mali by the Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa are “in a safe place.” The army has beefed up security along its border with Mali in an attempt to prevent fleeing militants from entering Algeria.

Militants’ Goal in Algeria Gas Plant Siege: Giant Fireball

Militants’ Goal in Algeria Gas Plant Siege: A Giant Fireball

Although splintered, al Qaeda finds new life in unstable areas

Al Qaeda silent on French hostages in Mali

Algeria Sowed Seeds of Hostage Crisis as It Nurtured Warlord

The UK and Algeria agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership by sharing intelligence and cooperating in counterterrorism. The Islamic Front of Justice and Development party questioned the government about opening its airspace to foreign warplanes for the military intervention in Mali. The Id Amenas gas facility is set to reopen in a month at one-third capacity.

Sahel ulemas partner against extremism

Algerian gas hostage crisis: Wired to a suicide bomber

UK’s Cameron visits Algeria, unveils security partnership following hostage crisis

Acting on information from an al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb terrorist arrested in December 2012, authorities broke up an al Qaeda support cell in the Tiaret region on Monday; four men and three women, including a physician, were arrested. Five such cells have been dismantled in the province since September 2012.

Three security guards were killed when “terrorists” attacked a camp at a gas pipeline in Djebahia. Al Qaeda’s El Farouk Brigade is accused of carrying out the attack.

Sole Algerian killed by Islamists hailed as a hero

‘Darker Sides’: The Vast Islamist Sanctuary of ‘Sahelistan’

Omar Abdel Rahman: The push to free the imprisoned Islamist extremist

Washington casts wary eye at Muslim Brotherhood

Armed Islamists attacked a gas pipeline at Djebahia in the Bouira region, killing two guards and wounding five more before fleeing. Security forces launched a search of the area, near the Kabylie mountain refuge of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Pakistan still global jihad hub

Algeria hostage drama likely an inside job: Norway

British cocaine users helping fund Islamic terror groups behind Algerian siege and Mali conflict

Child Soldier’s Tale Illustrates Mali’s Dirty War

Mali Army, Riding US Hopes, Is Proving No Match for Militants

Captured Tunisian terrorist Abu Talha Tounsi told investigators that the attack on the Id Amenas gas facility was facilitated with logistical help from Islamists in Mali and Libya, and Egyptian Abu Bakr. Former BP driver ‘Al Mandjal’ guided the attackers to the facility; authorities are looking for him.

An Algiers court postponed the trial of former al Qaeda emir Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who claimed the recent assault on the Id Amenas gas field. He and nine other defendants, including Abu Zeid, whose forces seized the Malian town of Diabaly, will be tried in absentia in March. The African Union is considering training extra forces to combat Islamist terror threats, expanding counterterrorism laws, and improving information-sharing between governments.

Some Algeria Attackers Are Placed at Benghazi

Algeria attack changes terror landscape in North Africa

Algeria Attack Shows Reach of Militants

Libyan Islamists are said to have helped the terrorist team that took over the Id Amenas refinery last week. A spokesman for the al Qaeda-linked group that mounted the attack said it was considered “successful by all standards.” The commander of one of the two terrorist assault teams, Abu al-Bara’a al-Jaza’iri, may have survived.

How a pile of explosives I found in a Libyan field may have ended up in the hands of Algerian terrorists
