Al-Qaeda admits to intentional killing of Algerian citizens
2009-10-06
In a statement posted last week-end by Al Fajr Media Centre, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leader Abdelmalek Droukdel for the first time admitted to intentionally targeting Algerian civilians, local press reported on Monday (October 5th). Last year, Droukdel defended AQIM's deadly attacks in Algeria by claiming that the terrorist group members "were doing their best to spare the civilians".
Al-Qaeda's new statement also said the group was behind 29 attacks in recent months on Algerian soldiers and security officers in Tizi Ouzou, Lakhdariya, Boumerdes, Skikda, Jijel and elsewhere. The claim was the first to be issued regarding the incidents. Given that few casualties resulted from these rudimentary attacks, Mauritanian daily Journal Tahalil noted that AQIM terrorism has "become so insignificant that it dares not claim acts which are more and more isolated in time and space".
Droukdel closed his statement with a call for new recruits. The desperate plea "demonstrates the bankruptcy of terrorism [and] the failure of the organisation's attempts to convince people, especially youth, to join its ranks", Algerian daily Ennahar commented.
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