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Al-Qaeda and its allies pose a "very real threat" in North Africa

April 12, 2007

Algeria Attacks Show Al-Qaeda Threat in North Africa, U.S. Says

By Ed Johnson and Gregory Viscusi, Bloomberg

N.AFRICA: Terrorist bomb attacks in Algeria yesterday show al-Qaeda and its allies pose a "very real threat" in North Africa, the U.S. State Department said.

The attacks in the capital, Algiers, killed at least 24 people and came a day after four suspected suicide bombers and a policeman died in Morocco as security forces raided a suspected terrorist cell in Casablanca.

Al-Qaeda is a "current and persistent'' threat in the region, department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington yesterday, adding the U.S. stands with "the Moroccan and Algerian people and their governments in the struggle against extremism and violence.''

Islamic militants are becoming more active in North Africa, particularly in the Maghreb region of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria where they have joined forces with al-Qaeda, the Texas- based risk advisory service Stratfor said in a report last month.

The Pentagon is planning a separate Africa command headquarters that is scheduled to open in October and said last month that al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups are using North Africa to recruit and train for future attacks. Article continues at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahCkghBYWFRM&refer=home

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Please also see: "Tuesday, January 09, 2007 -- Foreign Terrorist Elements Captured or Killed in Somalia," which can be found at: http://www.emergency.com/archive/cat_intelligence.htm