Listed in Australia 14 November 2002, re-listed 5 November 2004, 3 November 2006 and 8 August 2008.

Also known as: Tanzim al-Qa’ida fi bilad al-Maghreb al-Islamiya; Al-Qa’ida Organisation in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb; Al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb; the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC); Le Groupe Salafiste Pour La Predication et le Combat; Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat)

Al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is listed on the United Nations 1267 Committee’s consolidated list as an entity associated with al-Qa’ida. AQIM has been listed as a terrorist organisation by the US. Canada and the UK still list the group as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC).

Current status of al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)

Al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is a Sunni Islamic extremist group formerly known as the Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC).

• On 11 September 2006, al-Qa’ida deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, announced the merger between the GSPC and al-Qa’ida.
• On 14 September 2006, the GSPC emir, Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, released a statement to its official website and Jihadist forums, announcing the groups joining with al-Qa’ida and pledging alliance with Usama bin Laden.
• On 26 January 2007, the GSPC Emir, Abdelmalik Droukdal, announced the group had changed its name to al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

AQIM, then the GSPC, formed in 1998 as a splinter group of the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA) to protest against the indiscriminate killing of civilians carried out by the GIA. The GSPC renounced attacks against civilians but was nevertheless implicated in attacks resulting in civilian deaths.

The GSPC quickly became Algeria’s largest and most dangerous terrorist group, and by 2000, the external networks of the GIA across Europe and North Africa had been taken over by the GSPC. In June 2004, the GSPC released statements claiming its jihad in Algeria was part of the international jihad led by Usama bin Laden, and declared war on all foreigners and foreign interests in Algeria.

The culmination of this increasingly pro-al-Qa’ida stance was the group’s merger with al-Qa’ida, and its subsequent name change. This was articulated in the 2006 statement by the GSPC emir when he noted that the group had joined al-Qa’ida. Although GSPC (now AQIM) has joined al-Qa’ida, it is able to operate separately from the parent organisation. After the merger in 2006, AQIM has released several media statements specifically targeting Western interests, and the group conducted the first of several attacks against Western targets in Algeria in December 2006. AQIM’s most significant attack on Western interests in Algeria was the 11 December 2007 suicide bombing attack on the UN Office in Algiers, which killed 17 people. This constituted the worst attack on the UN since the bombing of the its Headquarters in Iraq in 2003.

In addition to Western interests, AQIM also targets Algerian military, police and government interests. Common tactics used by AQIM include kidnapping, ambush, attacks using false roadblocks, raids on military, police, and government convoys, armed assault, roadside bombs, and vehicle borne suicide bombings. As a method of attack, suicide bombings have only been used by AQIM since the merger and subsequent name change in 2007.

AQIM has also planned and conducted attacks on foreign interests outside Algeria, most recently including an attack on French tourists in Mauritania, and an attack on the Israeli embassy in Nouackchott, Mauritania. AQIM cells, members of the group, and persons otherwise linked to the group, have been disrupted or arrested in Europe, Canada, the UK, and the US, and have been linked to attacks on the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001, and a plan to produce and use ricin gas in an attack in London 2005.

AQIM continues to recruit new members, and undertakes training of individuals from nearby African nations with a view to returning them to their home countries to carry out attacks. AQIM support cells have been discovered and dismantled in Spain, Italy, Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali, and it maintained training camps in northern Mali.

AQIM’s primary source of funding comes from its involvement in criminal activity. It engages in kidnapping for ransom; muggings; narcotics trafficking in Southern Algeria/Northern Mali; smuggling; protection rackets; and money laundering. AQIM receives financial support from al-Qa’ida. Individual cells in Europe also provided support through small scale funding.

In February 2005, AQIM (then GSPC) leader Abdelmalik Droukdal first stated the group’s absolute rejection of an offer of amnesty under the Algerian Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation - a government initiative designed to end the insurgency. The provisions of the Amnesty expired on 31 August 2007 and AQIM continues to reject any offer of reconciliation. In September 2007, AQIM made statements calling on Algerians to boycott local elections.

Objectives

AQIM is a Sunni Islamic extremist group whose stated goal is to overthrow the Algerian Government and replace it with an Islamic government, which would rule Algeria under Sharia law. Since its merger with al-Qa’ida, AQIM has also adopted the global jihad ideology and has called for the freeing of the Maghreb from Spanish and French influence, and for the regaining of the lost Islamic regions of southern Spain, known as Al andalus.

AQIM has also stated its support for the Palestinians, and called on Muslims across North Africa to target Jewish and Christian interests to pressure the Algerian government to break its ties with Israel.

Leadership and membership

AQIM is currently led by Abdelmalek Droukdal (aka Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud). Other central figures of the group include Salah Gasmi, the head of the AQIM’s Media Committee; Yahia Djouadi (aka Abou Amar), the commander of AQIM’s Southern Zone; and regional smuggler and arms trafficker, and senior AQIM member, Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Membership of AQIM is difficult to estimate. It has been reported to be as high as 5000 and as low as 500 members. Recent media reporting indicates there are at least 400 AQIM members in the forests and mountain regions of the Boumerdes Province, Algeria. The UN states membership of the group to be approximately 700 across Algeria and northern Mali.

AQIM engagement in terrorist activities

AQIM issues a regular publication called the “Series of the Swords’ Shadows”. In this publication, the group claims responsibility for attacks it has committed. In June 2007, the group released a statement claiming responsibility for 18 separate attacks. Attacks for which responsibility or involvement has been claimed by or, reliably attributed to AQIM have included:

• 10 December 2006 – a roadside bomb attack which killed one Algerian and injured four Britons, an American, and a Canadian;
• 03 March 2007 – a roadside bomb attack targeting Russian gas workers, south-west of Algiers which killed three Algerians and one Russian;
• 11 April 2007 – two suicide car bomb attacks targeted the Algerian Prime Minister’s office, and a police station, which killed 33 people and injured over 200;
• 26 August 2007 – a roadside bomb attack targeting an Algerian police patrol on the outskirts of Algiers, which injured two police officers and three civilians;
• 29 August 2007 – a bomb placed between two railway tracks, targeting a freight train near Algiers which caused it to derail, and injured three people;
• 06 September 2007 - a suicide bomber killed 11 people shortly before a scheduled visit by the Algerian President in the town of Batna, Algeria;
• 08 September 2007 – a suicide truck bomb attack on a naval military barracks in the port of Dellys which killed over 30 people;
• 11 September 2007 – an explosive device was fired at an apartment complex in Batna, Algeria, which injured two children;
• 13 September 2007 – authorities defused a bomb intended to explode in a crowd celebrating the first day of Ramadan in Chemora;
• 14 September 2007 – three people were killed and five wounded when a bomb exploded outside a police building east of Algiers;
• 21 September 2007 – a suicide car bomb attack targeted a bus carrying foreigners east of Algiers, injuring nine;
• 24 September 2007 – an ambush near Stah, Algeria which killed three municipal guards in Stah;
• 25 September 2007 – a roadside bomb in Les Issers, killed two police officers;
• 27 September 2007 – a bomb attack in Sidi Ali Bounab, in Boumedes Province, killed two soldiers;
• 09 October 2007 – two roadside bombs targeting an army convoy in Boumerdes, Algeria, killed three military personnel;
• 08 November 2007 – an RPG attack on an aircraft, at Djanet airport in southern Algeria;
• 10 December 2007 – a bomb attack targeted Russian gas workers near Algiers, no injuries were recorded;
• 11 December 2007 – two suicide attacks targeting Algerian and UN establishments in Algiers which killed at least 60 people;
• 24 December 2007 – an attack on French tourists in Mauritania, which killed four and wounded five;
• 03 January 2008 – a suicide truck bomb attack in Naciria, Algeria, killed four people and injured 20;
• 01 February 2008 – a firearm and grenade attack on the Israeli Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, injuring at least three people;
• 22 February 2008 – two Austrian tourists were kidnapped in Tunisia.