Algerian security forces have recently thwarted several terrorist attacks on security headquarters and other government buildings carried out by groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Through these operations, AQIM is trying to lift a siege imposed on the eastern border with Tunisia, where terrorist groups suspected of being behind the repeated attacks on Tunisian army personnel are fortified in Jebel Chaambi.
Security units on Tuesday (August 20th) dismantled 3 bombs in two separate operations in Dellys and Bouira provinces.
Explosives were planted on national highway 24, which links Dellys to Boumerdes, in the al-Bassaten neighbourhood just 300 meters away from Dellys court. The discovery of the bomb led to an unprecedented level of alert and prompted security forces to intervene and close the road. The bomb was taken apart at about 4:00 PM.
In a second operation that same day, security agencies disarmed two bombs near military barracks in Ouled Ben Fodil village in Bouira province. Army forces intervened after receiving information indicating that two bombs equipped with remote detonators were planted near the barracks, according to Tout sur l’Algerie.
The operation came less than 12 hours after an attack by a terrorist group on a gendarmerie outpost in the north-eastern exit of Lakhdaria, north of Bouira province. National gendarmes on Monday night rebuffed a terrorist attack targeting that security centre, APS reported.
There were no casualties among the gendarmes or civilians. Following the blast, violent clashes broke out between national gendarmes and the perpetrators.
Algeria’s Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal admitted during a visit to Jijel province a week ago that the security situation in Algeria is sensitive.
Algeria is now living in the middle of a volcano, he said in reference to the volatile security along the country’s southern and eastern borders.
In a meeting with the area’s dignitaries, he noted the Algerian government is capable of confronting these threats.
For his part, Algeria’s Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia said that securing Algeria’s border with neighbouring Tunisia is not a new thing, but that recent events in Tunisia have prompted Algeria to step up the army’s presence to further secure the joint border.
The government has issued instructions to security authorities to co-operate with their Tunisian counterparts, and confirmed that “the Algerian government’s instructions and directives in this regard are implemented by the national gendarmerie command and border police forces.”
Local media outlets have listed several terrorist attacks in recent days, including an attempt by a terrorist group to attack an army outpost near the Tunisian border. A week ago, a traditionally-made bomb exploded on the western coastal border between Tipasa and Chlef provinces, wounding four soldiers, while an army unit was combing the area.
The escalation of attacks on security headquarters has prompted security agencies to update lists of wanted terrorists, publish a list of 15 wanted militants and distribute it to security, gendarmerie and army centres.
The list will be published at public spaces to urge citizens to inform security forces about any of the wanted, according to Ennahar. Algerian authorities have also set up hotlines for citizens to provide information on any of the 15 wanted terrorists.
By Magharebia
August 25, 2013
By Walid Ramzi
