| April 27, 2005: In the last few days, GSPC made two attacks, killing four people. So far this month, about fifty people have been killed near the capital, about half of the them soldiers, by GSPC and other Islamic rebel groups. The army has been carrying out aggressive sweeps in the rebels usual rural refuges, and driving the surviving rebels into urban areas, where the police have an easier time finding them, but the rebels also have an easier time finding victims. The Islamic rebels still have a core of popular support among religious Algerians, especially young ones. But the years of terrorism, and over 200,000 dead, has made it difficult to recruit. The future of groups like the GSPC is in Europe, and many Islamic radicals are fleeing there. In Europe, the hostility from the locals, and generous (by Algerian standards) social welfare benefits, make it easier, and safer, to be an Islamic terrorist. There are also plenty of infidels (non-Moslems) to kill. The Algerian Islamic radicals failed in Algeria because they killed too many Algerian Moslems over the last twelve years. While Europeans, and especially Americans, are more difficult to get to and kill, these murders are much more politically correct for Islamic radicals. |