Algerian Army troops killed an al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb brigade leader Friday (March 13th) between Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou, local and international press reported on Sunday. Mourad Mesrour, 38, had recently replaced Ali Ben Touati, aka Abou Tamim, as head of the Al Ansar brigade, Ennahar reported. Abou Tamim surrendered to Algerian authorities after hearing GSPC founder Hassan Hattab's call on January 18th for terrorists to repent. In related news, terrorists killed five people in Tébessa province near the Tunisian border. The initial attack occurred overnight Saturday, when armed fighters murdered a shepherd in Houidjbet and stole his large herd. Three members of the victim's family, accompanied by an APC representative from Oum Ali, were driving to the scene of the murder early Sunday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb. The blast killed all four passengers.