[Maghrebia] The al-Qaeda emir responsible for executing British hostage Edwin Dyer last May was gravely injured in a clash with Algerian troops in Adrar, El Khabar and Journal Tahalil reported on Wednesday (November 4th). Hamid Essouffi, aka Abdel Hamid Abou Zeid, leads the "Taregh ibn Ziyad" brigade. The katibate is one of four such brigades operating in al-Qaeda's Southern Zone, the Sahara-Sahel region stretching from northeast Mauritania to Somalia. Essouffi allegedly ordered the beheading last September of 11 Mauritanian soldiers kidnapped in Aklet Tourine.