ANP troops eliminate seven terrorists, retrieve weaponry in combing operations on Libyan, Malian Borders

A least seven terrorists were killed and two others were rounded up in two separate combing operations carried out by ANP troops in Algeria near the borders with Mali and Libya, a security source told Echorouk.

The source said two SUV vehicles were destroyed as the armed terrorists were attempting to cross the border of Mali with Algeria.

Five terrorists were killed during the successful ANP operation, and a load of arms and missiles were retrieved.

In another separate operation, the army killed two other terrorists while trying to infiltrate Algeria via the Libyan border.

Earlier this month, ANP  forces arrested a terrorist chieftain belonging to the so-called “al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb“ (AQIM), and killed three of his henchmen in an ambush set in a remote area on the border between Algeria and Mali, a security source told Echorouk.

The arrested ringleader is nicknamed Abu Alkamah of Niger, a prominent member in AQMI, and he used to be the chieftain of the terrorist brigade of “Tariq Ibn Ziyad”, the source added.

The source said that on Sunday morning the army troops tracked down four SUV vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns in a remote area in the locality of Bordj Badji Mokhtar near the Malian border.

The operation led to the elimination of three foreign terrorists and the arrest of Abu Alkamah, whose real name is Agh Ouheli Abedellah and originated from Niger.

The source said the terrorist group came from Mali and attempted to sneak into Algerian territory before being intercepted by ANP troops who also seized individual weapons and a sizable quantity of ammunition.

Since the outbreak of turmoil in northern Mali a year ago, Algeria has been deploying more troops along the border in a bid to thwart the infiltration of terrorists, smugglers and arms into Algerian territory.