Algerian security officials have set their sights on the remaining al-Qaeda terrorists in the Kabylie region.
Algerian National Police Director-General Major General Abdelghani Hamel paid a working visit to the operational security installations in Bouira province on Wednesday (March 6th).
Hamel recognised the role played by the police force in protecting citizens while emphasising in the same context the mandatory need to address all forms of criminality in the Kabylie region.
Roughly 400 armed al-Qaeda militants are still active in the Kabylie region, security officials announced last week.
The figure was released during a meeting focused on the assessment of security measures in the region to confront the gunmen deployed in the provinces of Boumerdès, Bouira and Tizi Ouzou, Tout sur l'Algerie reported.
These areas constitute the most important strongholds of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The sources pointed out that about 280 militants out of the 400 in eastern Algeria were active in the province of Bouira, where terrorists recently attacked a Djebahia gas pipeline. Roughly 73 militants were in Boumerdès and 50 were in Tizi Ouzou.
The latest terrorist attack in Tizi Ouzou occurred on Monday when a soldier was seriously injured after a bomb exploded in the Yakouren Forest. The explosion took place during a sweep conducted by members of the Algerian army.
One day prior to the attack, army troops clashed with terrorists at the southern entrance of the city of Tizi Ouzou after a terrorist group opened fire on a security checkpoint.
Security affairs expert Kamal Al Hadef attributed the growth of terrorists in the region to the "withdrawal of the gendarmes after the events of the Black Spring and the protests that defined the region years ago".
"These terrorists pose a threat to the residents of the villages," retired military officer Tahar Ben Thamer said, noting that residents in the area became "victims of extortion of money and supplies after terrorists lost their most important Emirs".
He added that they were operating in a "scattered manner after the after security forces and the army tightened the noose".
A report prepared by the Tizi Ouzou Chamber of Industry and Commerce noted 71 cases of businesses leaving the province for reasons related to management difficulties hindering economic development as well as the security situation.
During a visit to the region last summer, Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia called for greater participation of local people in the fight against terrorism through co-ordination with the army and security forces.
"Terrorism has declined significantly," he said while stressing the need to continue the fight until its final elimination.
According to security analysts, targeting militants deployed in the region would be a fatal blow to the organisation.
Security forces succeeded last year in eliminating a number of AQIM senior leaders in the region, in addition to dozens of insurgents who died during the security operations.
Algerian security reports described 2012 as the calmest year in the last decade. Armed attacks fell to their lowest level since 2002, with the most significant decrease found in the traditional strongholds of terrorism in the east.
The year saw a total of 65 terror attacks. With most of the danger emanating from Boumerdès, Tizi Ouzou, Bouira and Béjaïa, army forces have focused on the Kabylie region.
"The decline in armed attacks in 2012 is due to the pressure exerted by the security services on the strongholds of armed groups," Tout sur L'Algerie quoted a military source as saying
© Magharebia.com 2013
