Editor’s Note: This report begins a five-part assessment of the al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AOIM). The series seeks to assess and analyze the group’s development and progress in the following five categories: attack strategies, counter-offensive tactics, cell and group dynamics, media relations, and future impact.
Part One: Evolving Attack Strategies
• AOIM’s attack strategies continue to fall in line with al-Qaeda
• The group will continue to focus attacks on foreigners and foreign companies in the near to mid-term
• AOIM continues to demonstrate its association with al-Qaeda in all aspects of its tactics and strategies
The al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AOIM) has continued to prove its commitment and determination to the jihadist cause of “purifying” North Africa by ridding it of foreigners and “apostate” governments. Cycling between triumphant wins and terrible losses, the AOIM has experienced a turbulent one-year history since the formerly known-Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) official merged with al-Qaeda in September 2006 to become the AOIM. Throughout this growth period, the AOIM’s attack methodology and strategy has evolved significantly.
Bouchaoui Attack
The AOIM’s campaign to attack foreigners and embark on the jihadist cause in North Africa officially commenced on December 10, 2006, when the group attacked employees of the Halliburton-affiliate engineering company, Brown & Root Condor. The “Bouchaoui attack,” as it is known, was the first attack on Westerners since the former-GSPC’s kidnapping of 32 European tourists near the Libyan border in 2003 .
Additionally, the Bouchaoui attack was the first in which the group claimed responsibility after al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri’s, September 2006 statement revealing the groups’ merger and instructions to target American and Western economic interests (Previous Report). The attack jump-started the jihadist campaign to rid North Africa of foreigners and “Western-friendly” governments, culminating in a recent upsurge in sophistication and number of attacks.
• Since December 2006, the group has killed roughly 200 and wounded over 500 people in the last nine months. During the month of September 2007 alone, 75 died in violent attacks, including 60 killed in suicide blasts; more than double the number in August 2007.
• Since the September 13, 2007, start of Ramadan. AOIM killed 16 people and wounded 26 others.
Stroitransgaz Attack
Between the months of December 2006 and February 2007, the AOIM conducted four small-scale attacks, which resulted in the death of 13 people, wounding of 41 others. March 2007, however, was a busy month for the group, which conducted an estimated seven attacks, killing 25 people and wounding six.
• Their most significant attack that month was on March 3, 2007, when the AOIM attacked the Russian gas pipeline construction firm, Stroitransgaz .
Although the Bouchaoui attack was the group’s first attack on Westerners, it did not result in any deaths to Westerners. The Stroitransgaz attack, employing the same roadside bomb strategy, resulted in the death of one Russian and three Ukrainian engineers.
The AOIM’s intentions in the Bouchaoui and Stroitransgaz attacks were specifically to target Americans and Westerners in order to demonstrate their commitment to the jihadist cause (Previous Report). At the time of these attacks, the AOIM was more concerned with executing orders from al-Qaeda to attack foreigners by any means necessary, than it was in demonstrating its capabilities to conduct large-scale and high shock value attacks.
However, after proving their loyalty and commitment to al-Qaeda, the group stepped up its level of attacks, or attack strategies and tactics, to match those trademarked by al-Qaeda. AOIM has seemed to benefit from its link to al-Qaeda as it has been infused with a number of returning al-Qaeda fighters from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters. This experience and battle knowledge has contributed to the evolution of AOIM’s attack strategies and success.
First Suicide Truck Bomb
March 2007 was a significant month for the AOIM as it was a month of preparation for their first-ever suicide truck bomb attack on April 11, 2007 . The attacks against Algerian security forces in March were considered, more or less, target practice for the new recruits who joined the group following the Bouchaoui attack.
The AOIM gained the most credibility with their April 11 2007, suicide attacks on Algerian security forces and the Prime Minister’s headquarters. In that one month, the group conducted only three attacks, but resulted in the death of 33 people, and wounding of 160 others.
• Their enhanced capabilities, including the resolve to conduct suicide missions, quickly enabled the group to claim “al-Qaeda-like” status. The AOIM actions were subsequently compared to those in Iraq, which almost immediately raised the group’s status and credibility.
Between the months of May and August 2007, the AOIM conducted relatively few attacks. In those four months, the group executed 12 small-scale attacks, which killed 18 people and wounded 72. The group’s most significant attack within those months occurred on July 11, 2007, when a suicide truck bomb detonated inside a military barracks, just hours before the opening of the All-Africa games . Contributing to most of the deaths and injuries in July 2007, this attack killed ten Algerians and wounded 35 others.
• The July 11 attack is important to note as it demonstrated the group’s ability to recover from a severe military crackdown post-April 11 and conduct mass casualty attacks in line with al-Qaeda’s tactical strategy used in Iraq and elsewhere. This vitality in the face of increased security and arrests of group members is indicative of the group’s resolve.
First “Human” Suicide Attack
The group conducted several attacks in September 2007, including the group’s first ever-human suicide attack on September 6, 2007 . The mission of the attack – to assassinate President Bouteflika – was not completed, nevertheless, the attack was successful in that it further demonstrated the group’s ability to conform to al-Qaeda ideology in their attack strategies and tactics (Previous Report).
The attack killed 22 people and injured 107, which was comparable to the earlier large-scale attack of April 11th.
It is significant to note that after the April 11th bombing the leader of AOIM released a media statement explaining that the group had “decided” to “adopt suicide attacks as a method in confrontation with their enemies.”
• The group issued instructions for target selection stating, “choose targets that achieve the goals of jihad,” which would include all foreigners and foreign enterprises in North Africa.
Continued Evolution of Tactics, Targeting
On September 21, 2007, the group carried out these instructions by attacking the French construction firm, Razel, killing two French nationals and one Italian . The attack also came one day after Zawahiri called on Muslims in North Africa to “cleanse” the Maghreb of foreigners – an effort to restore the centuries old, Islamic ruled Iberian Peninsula which stretched across North Africa into Spain and southern France.
September 2007 was an important month for the AOIM for several reasons – the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the 6th anniversary of 9/11, and the one-year anniversary for the group’s official merge with al-Qaeda (Previous Report). The AOIM conducted nine separate attacks in September – more than in any other month this past year – killing 75 people and injuring 178.
The AOIM showcased their strength, growth, and potential for more destruction in the near future last month. Their evolving attack strategies have become more in line with al-Qaeda and the group, as a whole, has demonstrated its ability to recover from tough security crackdowns that have been conducted throughout the year. We anticipate more mid-scale attacks from the AOIM in the near term and a continued evolution in sophistication and targeting of Western companies and personnel.
