Algerian defense minister threatens ISIS after thwarted military base attack

Indiana Khaled

In November 2019, ISIS claimed responsibility for killing eight Algerian soldiers after taking down helicopters belonging to the Algerian army, which led to growing fears that violence could return to the country. Three months later, on Sunday, February 9, the terrorist organization claimed responsibility for a terrorist operation in which a soldier was killed while trying to counter a car bomb attack.

In response to that operation, Algerian army chief of staff Major General Said Chengriha stated on Friday, February 14 that the army will choose the appropriate time and place to respond to the attack, which occurred in a southern town near the border with Mali.

“I say to these terrorists and their agents, and to those behind them, that your cowardly and desperate attempt failed thanks to the valor, courage and vigilance of our armed forces personnel,” the defense minister said during his visit to the military base in Tamanrasset.

The Algerian Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Tuesday, February 11 that ISIS sent an attacker in a car bomb, but a base guard stopped him before he could enter. The car explosion killed both the guard and the assailant and wounded two others.

A statement issued by the terrorist organization said, “The martyred brother Omar al-Ansari drove his car with explosives towards a military base, and when the base interceded, he blew up his car.”

Security intensification

The Algerian army is intensifying its security presence, specifically in the area ​​north of Mali where militant groups loyal to al-Qaeda are active, although some have joined ISIS after defecting from al-Qaeda. Therefore, the military leadership is deploying thousands of soldiers along the southern borders with Mali, Libya and Niger to prevent the smuggling of arms and the infiltration of terrorists. The Turkish military’s interference in Libya has also raised concerns about the return of extremist elements to the region.

The statement from Algeria’s defense minister coincided with the participation of thousands of Algerians in the 52nd Friday of weekly protests demanding regime change. About 7,000 people went out to demonstrate in the center of the capital.

In June 2019, the Algerian security services announced that they are suffering from a security concern due to the entry of a number of terrorist elements across the Libyan border, as the army seized a cache of heavy and light weapons during a search patrol near the northeastern border with Libya.

A statement issued by the army on its official website confirmed that “an RPG-7 rocket launcher and three Kalashnikov machine guns were seized, in addition to three safes and a quantity of ammunition.”

The statement also confirmed the use of Algerian-made drones to destroy terrorist targets that were identified during air reconnaissance missions using the same type of unmanned aircraft.

Strategy to eliminate terrorism

Algeria is the birthplace of all the local Salafi-jihadist groups in the Maghreb region, as well as the transnational groups linked to ISIS or al-Qaeda.

In May 2015, Algerian terrorist Adnan Abou Walid al-Sahraoui pledged the allegiance of his terrorist group, known then as al-Mourabitoun, to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a US raid in late October 2019. Just months before he was killed, Baghdadi had released a video in which he greeted Sahraoui and invited him to continue terrorist operations against French and UN forces.

Participation in solving the Libyan crisis

Hatem Saber, an Egyptian expert on combating international terrorism, said that Algeria still suffers from the so-called “Black Decade” when civil war hit the country from December 1991 to February 2002.

Saber added in a statement to the Reference that Algeria’s participation in resolving the Libyan crisis was a reason for the military base attack last week, with the aim of reminding Algeria of the period of Islamists and the possibility of their return to violence at any time if it continues to adopt solutions to the Libyan crisis. He noted that Turkey, which funds ISIS, will not leave a country that seeks to resolve the crisis in Libya, or else it supports terrorist attacks in that country.

Regarding the Algerian government’s response to this attack, Saber clarified that it must be well studied in order to achieve its goal, otherwise terrorism will return more violently. He added that any response needs political and military sophistication in order to completely eliminate terrorism.