Top Islamist militant 'killed' in Algeria
news.bbc.co.uk
Tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict
The head of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), one of two main extremist groups in Algeria's brutal civil war, is reported to have been killed by security forces near Algiers.
Zouabri led one of Algeria's most feared militant groups
Antar Zouabri, who had led the GIA since 1996, was killed late on Friday along with two colleagues in a gunfight at a house in his hometown of Boufarik, south of Algiers, the Algerian official news agency says.
He has been reported dead by newspapers several times in the past, but this is the first time the government has announced his death.
The GIA has taken a leading role in the civil war, costing tens of thousands of lives, which began after an Islamic party was prevented from taking power in Algeria following elections in 1992.
Massacres
The GIA has probably been weakened in recent years after hundreds of members gave themselves up under an amnesty offered by the authorities, says the BBC's Heba Saleh.
Antar Zouabri and two other terrorists were shot dead by security forces on Friday at Boufarik
Security forces statement
Nonetheless, it is still active in parts of the countryside and there is no certainty that the loss of Mr Zouabri means the end of its activities, our correspondent says.
Shortly after Mr Zouabri assumed leadership of the GIA, the group started a campaign of slaughter in the countryside.
Whole families, including children, and even babies, had their throats slit in attacks attributed to them.
Throughout Mr Zouabri and his organisation have remained shrouded in mystery with very little known about their motives.
Some Islamists say the GIA relies on extremist interpretations of religion which allows it to target civilians.
Algerian opposition sources allege that the group may have been manipulated at times by elements within the ruling military and intelligence circles.
The leader of hardline Group for Salafist Preaching and Combat, Hassan Hattab, is now thought to be the only other major rebel leader still alive. |
