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| North Africa |
| Toe tags for six Salafists east of Algiers... |
| 2002-08-10 |
| Six armed Islamic extremists have been killed and 16 others arrested by Algerian security forces in two separate operations in the Boumerdes region, 50 kilometers east of the capital Algiers, newspaper reports said Wednesday. Six extremists were killed by army troops in an operation to root out insurgents in the town of Ammal, which lies between Boumerdes and Bouira, 120 kilometers (75 miles) further southeast, the papers said. In a separate operation in Dellys, east of Boumerdes, security forces arrested 16 people suspected of having links to armed Islamic groups, the papers reported. Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) is known to operate in the Boumerdes region. Pity the poor Algerians. This is a job that'll never get done, but if they stop doing it they've got the much greater of two evils. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 There's also an element of what goes around comes around. This situation is an outgrowth of the tactics of terror and alienation that the Algerians invented in the course of the civil war. They worked against the French, so they figure they'll work against anyone else they don't agree with. If the government went under today, the guys who weren't in power would be using them against the GAI/Salafists, assuming they were the ones who took charge. They've managed to make this sort of thing a part of their national culture. |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-08-10 14:32:38 |
| #1 Fred, is there a more hopeless situation out there right now than Algeria? Even Kashmir looks to have more reason for optimism. Regards, |
| Posted by: Steve White 2002-08-10 14:04:45 |