Top operative of Al-Qaeda in north Africa killed

Louzai killed by Algerian forces in operation close to town of El Bayadh, southwest Algeria.

• An armed Islamist killed by government forces earlier this month in southwest Algeria has been identified as Mourad Louzai, a commander of Al-Qaeda’s north Africa branch, a security source said Sunday.
• Louzai, 43, was killed by Algerian forces on October 7 in an operation close to the town of El Bayadh, some 600 kilometres (400 miles) from the capital of Algiers.
• Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which sees itself as the north African wing of Osama bin Laden’s network, emerged out of the Algerian fundamentalist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.
• The Islamist fighters have sought to extend their range into nations on the southern edge of the Sahara and have claimed several attacks in the region.
• On June 18, they claimed to have carried out an attack at Bordj Bou Arreridj, southeast of Algiers, killing 18 police officers and one civilian.
• It was one of the biggest to date by Islamists in Algeria since the suicide bombing of a police academy killed 48 people in August 2008.