[Maghrebia] Algeria's large-scale military offensive in the Sidi Ali Bounab forest killed at least 50 terrorists, L'Expression reported Thursday (December 30th), citing security sources. The official tally from the three-week operation has not yet been released.
More than 7,000 soldiers, including GIR (reserve intervention group) and GIS (special intervention group) troops were mobilised for the ANP operation. The initiative was launched following reports that al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb leader Abdelmalek Droukdel and other emirs would attend a conclave aimed at restructuring al-Qaeda cells in Kabylie. |