The Algerian armed forces said yesterday they had killed the leader of a major Islamic rebel group with ties to al-Qaeda.
"Units of the People's National Army, engaged in a vast anti-terrorist operation... have killed a number of criminals, including Nabil Sahraoui, alias Mustapha Abou Ibrahim, chief of the terrorist group known as the GSPC, as well as his [three] main aides," the army said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
It said the militants died in the province of Bejaia, some 200km east of the capital Algiers. It did not say when they were killed, but said the military operation was still going on.
The death of Sahraoui, who took over the leadership a year ago, was expected to significantly weaken the GSPC (Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) the only remaining major rebel organization still fighting Algeria's secular authorities.
The group, believed to number around 500 armed members, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 32 European tourists in the Sahara desert last year. It is on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Algeria's President Abelaziz Bouteflika has made it a priority to crush Islamic militants bent on turning the Muslim country into a Taliban-style state.
"The leadership of the GSPC has been decapitated and it will be difficult to rebuild a strong leadership as most of the top officials are dead, under arrest or have disappeared," said Mounir Boudjema, an Algerian security expert and editor.
"It is now a much-weakened group but it's not the end of terrorism as links to al Qaeda remain and some will keep fighting."
Islamic extremist groups took up arms to overthrow the government after army-backed authorities cancelled parliamentary elections a radical Islamic party was poised to win in 1992.
More than 150,000 people, mostly civilians, have since been killed, according to human rights groups. Violence has sharply declined over the past two years but the recent alignment of the GSPC to al Qaeda has worried analysts and diplomats.
Earlier this month the GSPC declared war on foreign individuals and companies in Algeria. The move came amid a series of such attacks on foreigners in Saudi Arabia -- where, on Friday, the leader of al Qaeda in the kingdom was shot dead by security forces.
The GSPC was created in 1998 by former members of the Armed Islamic Group who did not agree with attacls on civilians.
Analysts said Sahraoui's death would clear the way for those who wanted to surrender in exchange for some form of amnesty, which he had opposed.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
PHILIPPINE COMMITTEE: The head of the committee that made the decision said: ‘If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct’ A Philippine congressional committee on Wednesday ruled that there was “probable cause” to impeach Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte after hearing allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. The unanimous decision of the 53-member committee in the Philippine House of Representatives sends the two impeachment complaints to deliberations and voting by the entire lower chamber, which has more than 300 lawmakers. The complaints centered on Duterte’s alleged illegal use and mishandling of intelligence funds from the vice president’s office, and from her time as education secretary under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Duterte and the
RSS