Algerians decry tactics of latest terrorist attacks

12/09/2007

Algerians are locked in a struggle between security forces and terrorists who have sunk to a new low by recruiting teenagers and sending them on suicide missions against their will.

By Said Jameh in Algiers for Magharebia—12/09/07

[Getty Images] An Algerian woman waves the national flag during an anti-terrorism protest on September 9th in Algiers.

Algerians see the recent bombings in Batna and Dellys as an attack on stability and the government's national reconciliation policy. Many believe the country has entered into a battle of wills between the authorities and al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, which resorted to recruiting teenagers in its most recent attack.

Following the attacks that killed 60 and injured more than 150, security officials announced a new security plan for the country and especially for the capital. General Director of National Safety Ali Tounsi announced the deployment of more police to secure Algiers during the holy month of Ramadan.

Many in Algeria believe that the attacks targeted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's national reconciliation policy and were an attempt to drag the country back to the pre-1999 era.

Political analyst Nasreddine Gacem says that although the Batna bombing took the form of a failed assassination attempt, it did not target the president. Rather, it was a media spectacle to send political messages and pressure and frighten Bouteflika. In a statement to Magharebia, Gacem said that the bombing was aimed at making the president lose hope in the effectiveness of his national reconciliation policy.

"However, Bouteflika understood the plan, and wasn't confused," Gacem asserted. "He showed great steadfastness. Therefore, he completely thwarted the effectiveness of the operation, exactly as the attempt itself on his life failed."

The attacks mark a new low point in al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb's strategy in Algeria. Following the surrender and killing of many of its members, and the disillusionment among its ranks a year after the GSPC's name change was announced, the jihadi organization has resorted to recruiting teenagers.

The teenagers are lured with promises of money and are told they will be sent to fight in Iraq. Once they discover the falsehood of the recruiters' claims, many are forced to go on suicide missions in Algeria after threats to kill their families.

According to the father of Nabil Belkacem, the 15-year old suicide bomber who carried out the attack on the military barracks in Dellys, killing 30 and injuring 47, his son was deceived and recruited by the imam of a mosque in the popular Algiers neighbourhood, La Provalle. Nabil's mother claimed her son was forced to join the terrorist group and that he was a "teenager" who had nothing to do with terrorism or terrorist elements. She told Algerian media that her son kept in touch with her when he was with the armed groups, and that he intended to return to his family as soon as there was a chance to do so, but that elements of his group threatened to kill all the members of his family if he surrendered to the authorities. "My son doesn't know anything about terrorist acts. Those people have taken advantage of his young age and have made him engage in criminal acts," she said. "My son died, but what really saddened me was those innocent people who were killed in the terrorist attack."

Security authorities had arrested the imam of the neighbourhood mosque, called Amine, one month before the attack. The arrest followed investigations of his recruitment of youth for al-Qaeda.

According to investigations cited by Ech Chourouk on Wednesday (September 12), al-Qaeda has recruited at least 40 youngsters under 17, with the youngest being 14. According to the paper, the terrorist organisation started recruiting teenagers following heavy losses from counter-terrorism operations in recent months, particularly in Kabylia's former strongholds. Investigators were quoted as saying that most of the teenagers are trained in Ouled Salah region in Thenia, east of Algiers, where Belkacem, whose name was changed to Abu Mussab az-Zarqawi al-Assimi, was trained. Ech Chourouk said the teenagers come from poor families and are attracted by money and promises of fighting in Iraq.

Gacem says the shift to suicide attacks are aimed mainly at derailing the national reconciliation process through a climate of panic and fear.

Algerians were not impressed, however. A day after the second attack, thousands rallied across the country in condemnation of the two bombings, raising banners calling for peace, reconciliation and for putting an end to the security crisis.

Abdelaziz, a resident who Magharebia met in Remdani district, a neighbourhood adjacent to the targeted naval force barracks in Dellys, said those who carried out the operation "were not human". Mohammad, a young man from the same neighbourhood, expressed his grief for the victims, saying "Those who died in the military barracks are citizens of this country."

Hocine ait Ahmed, an opposition figure and head of the Socialist Forces Front Party, called on Algerian authorities to adopt new approaches in dealing with the security situation. He expressed his indignation over the bombings and called on the authorities to make better use of "the capabilities and abilities that abound in Algeria, and which can be used in the country's relations with world countries".