CAIRO — Algeria has launched another crackdown on a leading Al
Qaida-aligned group.
Over the weekend, Algerian security forces raided suspected insurgency
strongholds in the Shatiya region west of Algiers. At least 22 people were
captured.
Over the last few months, scores of Salafists, including at least three
senior operatives, were said to have surrendered to authorities under an
amnesty offer initiated by President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika, Middle East Newsline reported.
Security sources said the detainees were suspected of being operatives
for the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call. The sources said the suspects
were accused of helping insurgency networks in Shatiya, a region around 120
kilometers west of Algiers.
"The suspects were captured as a result of cooperation from former
terrorists who have agreed to turn in their colleagues," a security source
said.
The amnesty deal
required that insurgency operatives turn in their colleages and renounce
violence.
This was the second major capture of Salafist operatives in Shatiya.
Security sources said that on Jan. 1, another 20 suspected Salafist
operatives were arrested on charges of armed robbery and threats against
civilians.