Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad cell broken in Algeria

Algerian security forces in the southern border province of Adrar were able to break up a network providing support and assistance to armed groups affiliated with al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in West Africa on Friday. The two individuals involved in the cell had been active among drugs smuggling criminal groups along the Sahel strip before joining the ranks of the militant group. An informed security source has reported that “security forces were able to apprehend the suspects after receiving information from residents in the border area, prompting the unit specialised in combating organised crime to lay a trap that resulted in the arrest of the two individuals.” The detainees, the source said “had been among the elements most wanted by Algerian security authorities” adding that they had been “tasked with funding the terrorist activities of the al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group and facilitating the recruitment of new mujahideen wishing to join the organisation.” In related developments, security sources in eastern Algeria have reported that Libyans have been joining the ranks of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb [AQIM] in the south of the Khenchela Province and the north of the Tébessa and el-Oued Provinces. The Libyans’ function, the sources said, has been planting landmines in the roads used by the Algerian army. The sources added that the Libyans had been part of al-Qaeda since the inception of militant activities in the 1990s, when AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel exploited the rift between Libyans and the Muammar Gaddafi regime to recruit them to the ranks of his organisation in areas adjacent to the Libyan borders.