A Mauritanian court indicted six men on terror charges on Wednesday -- the same day al-Qaeda's North African wing claimed responsibility for a blast in Algiers.
The six are thought to belong to a local terror cell linked to al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa, the group that earlier claimed responsibility for the bombings that ripped through the prime minister's office and a police station in Algiers, killing at least 24 and wounding hundreds.
Five of the six were charged with "belonging to a terrorist organization whose aim is undermining national security," said Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Talhata, the country's chief prosecutor.
A judge ordered the men held pending trial.
Their group, the Mauritanian Group for the Teaching of Jihad, is allegedly allied with the masterminds of the Algerian attack, Talhata said.
Talhata said authorities had been pursuing the men for three months when they arrested them two weeks ago in Nouakchott. They were caught with a cache of weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The government of Mauritania, a country of 3.2 million surrounded by a sea of sand, has been battling the Salafist guerrillas since a 2005 attack on an army barracks killed 17 people.
Since then, nearly 30 suspected Salafists have been imprisoned on charges of "partaking in terrorist activities."
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS