CAIRO — Al Qaida has claimed responsibility for a series of recent
strikes that incurred heavy casualties against the
military and security forces in Algeria.
The Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb trumpeted the launch
of what it termed a full-scale holy war in Algeria.
"The holy warriors, thank God, have managed to reorganize their ranks
and set forth their plans, and are preparing many surprises," Al Qaida said
in a statement posted on the Internet on July 23. "We call upon all our
Muslim brothers to stay away from the centers of the infidels and official
apostates, as well as security [gatherings] of army and police."
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Al Qaida has claimed nearly daily attacks on Algerian military and
police targets, Middle East Newsline reported. Al Qaida said Algerian authorities have concealed casualty
figures from Islamic suicide bombings and improvised explosive device
attacks.
Algerian authorities have acknowledged that Al Qaida was targeting
military and security forces. On Monday, the Algerian Army said nine
soldiers were injured in a
bombing attributed to unidentified "terrorists" in Buoura, about 120
kilometers east of Algiers.
The bombing was the latest in a series of major strikes claimed by Al
Qaida. On July 13, Al Qaida claimed responsibility for attacks on army and
police bases in Tizi Ouzou, about 120 kilometers east of Algiers. The group
said operatives fought Algerian security forces for two hours with machine
guns, rockets and bombs.
"The holy warriors were able to capture the police station and seize 13
weapons as booty," an Al Qaida statement dated July 19 said. "The fruits of
the attack were that more than 25 apostate soldiers were killed and
injured."
On July 14, Al Qaida was again said to have attacked security forces.
The statement said four Al Qaida operatives were killed.
The Al Qaida claims have been partially confirmed by the regime in
Algiers. Algerian authorities reported killing four Al Qaida operatives
around July
14, but said only three soldiers died in insurgency missions.
Al Qaida also said it attacked an Algerian Army patrol on July 12 in Bou
Saada near Djelfa. The statement said four soldiers were killed and others
were injured. A day earlier, two Algerian soldiers were also said to have
been killed in an Al Qaida IED strike.
At the same time, Al Qaida drove a truck into an Algerian Special
Operations Forces base in Lakhdaria, a claim confirmed by witnesses and
government sources. Al Qaida claimed that more than 70 soldiers were killed,
a casualty figure seven times of that reported by the government.
"By the power from Allah, he was able to breach the base and detonated
his truck that was loaded with more than one ton of explosives," Al Qaida
said. "At that moment, more than 70 soldiers were killed and an unknown
number was injured."
Al Qaida also provided details of its July 5 bombing of the motorcade of
the governor of Tizi Ouzou. The governor survived, but Al Qaida said an
unspecified number of soldiers were killed.