Algeria’s second largest Islamic rebel group, blamed for the brutal killings of thousands of people in the mid-1990s, has been virtually wiped out after security forces killed and arrested its top members. The arrest of Nourredine Boudiafi and the death of Younes Chaabane, who had replaced him at the head of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), all but dismantled a group already weakened by internal dissent, authorities said Tuesday. The developments came six months after the killing of Nabil Sahraoui, leader of the larger and more active Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), North Africa’s top extremist group which has ties to al Qaeda.Full Story