Algeria: A New Chapter In War Against Terrorism
Algeria renews its commitment to fight against terrorism and its various support networks.
A new incarnation of Algeria’s black decade — the period between 1990 and 2000, when some 200,000 people died in the civil war and fight against Islamic terrorism — seems to be on the verge of birth. Unlike in the 1990s, however, when terrorist activity in Algeria was homegrown, the newer version is cross-border and multinational, which means the fight against it will be more difficult.
The roots of the problem date back to 1991, after the military took control of the government and forced President Chadli Bendjedid to resign in January 1992. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) — which in December 1991 had emerged the winner in the first round of parliamentary elections — was banned, and its leaders, Abassi Madani and Ali Benhadj, and thousands of others were arrested. Subsequently, Islamist guerrillas fought an armed campaign against the government that would eventually leave Algeria internationally isolated.
The conflict spawned several armed rebel groups, including the mountain-based Islamic Armed Movement and the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which operated in towns. The guerrillas initially targeted the army and police, but some groups eventually began attacking civilians.
Some of the Islamist rebels had traveled to Afghanistan to fight with the mujahedeen against Russian forces and while there established contacts with al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Years later, in 2005, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC, Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat) emerged from the GIA. Under the leadership of Abdelmalek Droukdel, also known as Abou Mossaab Abdelwoudoud, the GSPC became the most influential and active of the rebel groups. It affirmed its affiliation with al-Qaeda when it changing its name to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
