Algeria: Elimination Of 570 Terrorists Within 30 Months

According to the National Defense Ministry, 570 terrorists were eliminated in 2015 and 2016 and in the first six months of this year, that is within the last 30 months, including leaders and chieftains of terrorist organizations, with the recovery of a large arsenal of weapons and ammunition.

The military leadership attributed the significant results achieved in the field of counter-terrorism to the focus on intelligence work, stressing that its units adopted security plans aimed at combating terrorist groups on the accuracy and rapid exchange of intelligence, as part of combined operations in the war on terrorism with on focus the collection of information to a large extent on the continuous coordination among the different security bodies.

The Ministry of National Defense underlined that the current strategy is based on dealing firmly with the terrorist threat, with the rapid access to security information, its optimal utilization, the swift transfer of forces to the target location, and the delicate intervention that led to the elimination of 570 terrorists, including leaders of terrorist organizations. 

The largest death-toll was recorded on 19 May 2015. Twenty-two terrorists were eliminated in just 24 hours, near the Farkaoua area in Bouira (eastern Algeria), along with the recovery of a considerable amount of arms and ammunition, as part of the Algerian border security anti-terrorist operations.

The Ministry of National Defense also revealed that the national army units managed to eliminate 63 terrorists and arrest 22 others during the first six months of 2017. 

The ANP army also retrieved substantial quantities of weapons and ammunition, including 272 bombs, 167 Kalashnikov automatic rifles, 2 Grad rockets and 2 SPG9 guns. 26 semi-automatic rifles, 46 assault rifles, 4 submachine guns, 15 automatic pistols, 15 revolvers, 95 mortar rounds, 23,542 rounds of various caliber and 103.5 kg of gunpowder, as well as a significant load of ammunition and other weapons.

The number of terrorists who surrendered to the security authorities in 2017 has risen significantly over the last four years, it said. 

Over the past 18 months, the Ministry of National Defense has counted more than 72 terrorists, including women, who voluntarily gave themselves up to the various security forces who put them under judicial supervision.

The terrorists who surrendered, were active in the provinces of Ain Defla, Illizi, Jijel, Tamanrasset, Adrar, Constantine, Tizi Ouzou, Medea, Bouira, Skikda, Boumerdes, Khenchela, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Oued Souf, Mila, Bordj Badji Mokhtar, and Tamanrasset, the National Defense Ministry said in its statement.

It added that among these terrorists were those who had been in the strongholds of armed action since 1993 and were active in known criminal gangs in the central, southern, eastern and western parts of the country.