Algeria hit by surge in guerrilla violence

[Al-khiyal]

Two municipal guards killed in Medea

[Al-khiyal]

Algiers - Armed groups in Algeria killed six members of the security forces in two separate ambushes on Saturday, according to newspaper reports on Sunday.

Four police officers were killed and five injured on Saturday evening when an armed group ambushed their convoy on a major road through the Adekar forest, 260 kilometres east of Algiers, the daily Liberte newspaper reported.

The paper said the group was caught unawares by an explosion next to a bridge, followed by machinegun fire from men hidden at the side of the road.

The forest is a notorious hide-out for members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), an Islamist group that rejects President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's national reconciliation policy.

Two communal guards were killed on Saturday morning in an ambush in the Ouled Hamza area near Medea (80 kilometres south of Algiers), according to two newspapers, El Khabar and Ech-Chourouk, which blamed the attack on GSPC.

The attacks followed the expiry on Monday of a partial amnesty under which armed Islamists who had not committed violent crimes would be pardonned.

The amnesty agreement was intended to put an end to the violence that has killed between 150 000 and 200 000 people according to official figures.

Algeria's long-running civil war has greatly reduced in intensity since 2003. Sporadic violence still continues on a much lower level, although the unrest has escalated since the start of June.

Six members of the security forces killed in Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria to accept rebel surrender after amnesty

[Al-khiyal]

Police death toll rises to 5 following terrorist attack in Bejaia

[Al-khiyal]

Algeria’s defense forces have already launched a major offensive aimed at eliminating the various groups of insurgents operating across the country. The offensive started days before the deadline for insurgents to surrender. There are an unknown number of insurgents who refuse to adhere to the country’s reconciliation pact. Forgiveness was included in the Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, which was enacted as law following a popular referendum. The text gives insurgents until August 31, 2006 to surrender. Past that deadline, the military will intervene to eliminate those who have not given up resistance. However, the military machine is already on the move.

The military’s sweep will take place in several regions where terror groups are said to have found refuge. They include the Mount of Edough in Annaba, across Jijel, Skikda, all the way to Tizi Ouzou and Boumerdès. These provinces are located in Algeria’s northeastern section.

While army chiefs have denied the rumors about imposing a curfew in the targeted regions, they admitted that several highway stretches and roads will be closed in the Kabylie territory during the operation. The number of insurgents operating from the Kabylie is unknown but local sources estimate it at 200 men.

The insurgents who rejected the Charters for Peace and Reconciliation have been busy showing that they are still active. Operating under the umbrella of the notorious GSPC terror organization, they have distributed leaflets in Draa El-Mizan denouncing and rejecting the Charters. They have also increased their attacks in nearby Boumerdès over the past months, while accelerating their recruitment campaign. In all, about 180 insurgents are said to be active in Boumerdès, the province neighboring Algiers to the east.

In the nonwestern province of Chlef, there are also insurgents active in the Ouarsenis Mountains. Since the enacting of the Charters, the Oursenis region witnessed no single surrender. This is because hardcore GSPC elements from other regions moved into the Ouarsenis to prevent their local counterparts from abandoning terror activities. The GSPC leadership considers the Ouarsenis region as critical when it comes to unleashing terror on Algiers and its surrounding regions, not only from Boumerdès to the east but also from Ouarsenis and Tipaza from the west and south. Some 70 elements are said to be active in that region.

The Charters also failed to convince terrorists in the western province of Relizane to surrender. Relizane is undoubtedly the most assaulted region in Algeria when it comes to the civilians, government and infrastructure. Military attacks in the region forced insurgents to move to other territories, probably Chlef and Ain Defla, only to return later.

In the eastern regions of Annaba and Skikda, 22 insurgents gave up arms and surrendered but another group of about 20 elements remains active. The Charters have also failed to convince terrorists in Béchar, and in the southeast, mainly in El-Oued, Biskra and Ghardaïa. In the extreme south of the Sahara desert, the GSPC has apparently failed in several attempts to smuggle arms and weapons from the Sahel to the north of the country. However, observers say there is no doubt it has succeeded in supplying the north in operations that have not be stopped by the security forces.

As for the Algerian military, it will engage thousands of troops beginning August 31 to dislodge or eliminate the insurgents.

As deadline for insurgents to surrender expires, Algerian military goes on the offensive

[Mnarvi-DZ]

The Charters also failed to convince terrorists....

The Charters have also failed to convince terrorists...

There is nothing to convince in these extremist terrorists, unless u give them the full power so that they can resume their killings, legally this time....

Go ANP!

[Al-khiyal]

GSPC’s on air propaganda war stresses reconciliation rejection