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Africa North
Mokhtar Belmokhtar titzup?
2006-10-02
Algiers, 2 Oct. (AKI) - The alleged leader of a terror cell of the Algerian-based Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) which has sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda, was killed a few days ago during armed clashes with members of a Mali-based armed group, Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Monday.
“Mukhtar al-Mukhtar reportedly died during one of the periodic clashes between militants who use as their base a desertic area on the Algeria-Mali border...”
Mukhtar al-Mukhtar reportedly died during one of the periodic clashes between militants who use as their base a desertic area on the Algeria-Mali border to train members and smuggle weapons.
"This here desert ain't big enough fur the two of us, Mukhtar! Go fur yer guns!"

The paper quotes as a source the alleged leader of militants in Mali, Hasan Faghagha who said the GSPC member, whose nom de guerre reportedly was Khaled Abu Abbas, was killed in Malian territory.

Mali Tuaregs say Algerian militant killed in clash
Former Tuareg rebels in Mali clashed with members of an Islamic militant group near the Algerian border last month and killed one of its leaders, a Tuareg spokesman said on Sunday. He told Reuters by telephone the gunbattle between Tuareg fighters and militants of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), an Algerian rebel movement which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda, took place on September 19 some 400 km (250 miles) northwest of the Malian desert town of Kidal. "Yes, there was a clash ... the result was that one of the leaders of the GSPC was killed," said Eglasse Ag Idar, spokesman for the Democratic Alliance for Change, which groups Malian Tuareg fighters who staged a revolt in Kidal in May.

“He could not name the dead GSPC militant but said he was close to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a GSPC leader in the Sahara.”
Speaking by satellite phone from Mali, Ag Idar said one Tuareg fighter was wounded. He believed other members of the GSPC unit could have been injured in the fight. He could not name the dead GSPC militant but said he was close to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a GSPC leader in the Sahara. In the Malian capital Bamako, a government source who asked not to be named said he believed up to three GSPC fighters may have been killed in the clash but he had no more details.

Malian Touaregs join the fight on terrorism campaign
“The source denied that Belmokhtar, so called “Khaled Abu El Abbès”, was among the group. A number of Kidal Touaregs spotted an active movement of GSPC terrorists on their borders and shot them with bullets.”
An element from the Salafiste Group for Preaching and Combat, GSPC, was killed during an armed confrontation with Malian Touaregs tribes on the Malian borders, security sources said. Non confirmed news about the killing of “El Moulathamoune” brigade’s chef Mokhtar Belmokhtar during the skirmishes engaged between both parties last Tuesday, the sources denied.

The security source told El Khabar the confrontation has ended by the killing of the element of a Group which was wandering in the Sahara. The killed person is “one of the soldiers of the Fifth Region (East), who was a member of a group which was looking for arms in the Sahara at the rebel tribes of the African Sahel.”. The source denied that Belmokhtar, so called “Khaled Abu El Abbès”, among the group which confronted the elements of the “Democratic Alliance for Change”. The source added that the information we obtained from the confrontation field say that a number of Kidal Touaregs spotted an active movement of GSPC terrorists on their borders and shot them with bullets.
Posted by:Steve

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