Why is Al Qaeda back in business in the Islamic Maghreb ?

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Algerian security forces were supposed to have crushed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. But Wednesday's attacks in Bouira continue the darkest week for the country in months.

The Algerian government claimed to have won the war against the terrorists. Yet the country has experienced its bloodiest week in nearly a year, with two car bombs leaving more than ten people dead Wednesday.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has been hit hard. Algerian authorities say they’ve killed or arrested more than 200 fighters since the start of the year. AQIM’s main explosives expert was killed in February; the following month the leader of the group’s southern faction was seized. AQIM is reportedly having serious recruitment problems and some of its alleged financial backers were arrested by Spanish police in June. 

AQIM has adapted to the situation. To make command more manageable, it has restructured its operations into four geographical zones instead of eight. It is deploying in urban suburbs in order to launch high-profile attacks rather than striking the army in remote parts of Algeria. And it is shunning firefights, which are costly in bullets, preferring bombings and suicide blasts.

AQIM does not enjoy sympathy among Algerian civilians, who have been its main victims. But, as its leader Abdelmalek Droukdel said in an interview in early July with the New York Times, the group can rely on foreign fighters from across North Africa. Some militants have trained in Iraq and are bringing their tactics to Algeria.

All this suggests that Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is down, but certainly not out.