CAIRO Ñ Algeria is bracing for a sharp escalation in Islamic
insurgency attacks.
Algerian security sources said Islamic militants plan to focus on
bombings and massacres around the capital of Algiers. They said the
militants have awakened cells of so-called sleeper agents, militants who
had long been dormant in an attempt to evade detection.
Nearly 800 people have been killed this year in the Islamic
insurgency war in Algeria. Insurgency leaders have pledged to continue the
campaign.
The insurgency strategy was detected during this month's bombing in an
Algiers suburb, in which 49 people were killed. The sources said militants
regarded the bombing in the market of Larba, 20 kilometers south of the
capital, as a major success.
The Larba bombing, the sources said, was followed by bombings in
Algiers. Security sources said many of the attacks are believed being
carried out or aided by sleeper cells administered by the Armed Islamic
Group and the Salafist Group for Call and Combat.
Algerian Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni said latest attacks in Algiers
and its suburbs are the work of a new insurgency group. Zerhouni said
authorities have identified several members of the new group.
The sources said many of the sleeper agents were militants who
responded to an amnesty offer by the government in 2000. Thousands of
Islamic militants surrendered to authorities and security sources said that
many of them or their relatives have returned to violence.
Algerian authorities have bolstered their security presence around the
capital over the last few weeks. Police and army units have been reinforced
at roadblocks. In addition, Algerian officials said the military has
accelerated training of special units to fight the militants.
