Islamist group claims occupation of border town

The leader of the al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in West Africa has revealed that his group has taken control of large parts of the town of al-Khalil, on the Algerian border. Abul Walid al-Sahrawi said that the organisation is planning to use the town as a base against Algeria. A statement released by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) said that the Islamist group had attacked the town of al-Khalil, adjacent to the Algeria border in order to gain control of a path used by criminals to smuggle drugs to Europe. The statement added that the militants had assaulted the town’s residents and seized property, including 50 vehicles belonging to locals. The events forced locals to flee into Algerian territories. There is only a three kilometre distance between al-Khalil and the Algerian border, meaning residents are admist the hostilities. Constitutional restrictions mean that the national army’s hands are tied when it comes to carrying out operations beyond the Algerian border. The head of the organisation’s shura council said that the operation was carried out by "prominent" leaders Yoro al-Azawadi and Faisal Abu Lbaba al-Djzairi, in cooperation with joint military units from al-Tawhid wal-Jihad and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Mulathameen Brigade, led by defector Moktar Belmoktar. Al-Sahrawi also also vowed to "continue pursuing the Azawad Liberation Front and the highway robbers, to punish them strongly and mercilessly." In related developments, sources say that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has called off a major military operation targeting al-Tawhid al-Jihad in West Africa. The Algerian army was planning a 10-day military operation in April, after six Algerian consulate staff members were abducted in the Malian city of Gao, in the Azawad region. The mission, which would have brought together an elite special force supported by fighter planes and attack helicopters, was called off after security authorities lost track of the diplomats. Meanwhile, army and police forces have launched a large-scale combat operation in the southern regions of the country. Informed security sources described the operation as "huge," adding that it comes after it received reports of suspicious movements by terrorist elements in the area. Army units killed two militants, including one Libyan, and recovered their weapons. The operation also exposed al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) hideouts in their east-Algerian strongholds. The information was given by militants apprehended in previous operations carried out in Khenchela.