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Algeria Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb/Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC)

by J.B. Hill

The Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by their French acronym GSPC, was formed in 1998 after breaking off from another violent Islamist organization, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). Believing the GIA attacks against Algerian civilians were hurting the Islamists’ cause, the GSPC vowed not to target indiscriminately.¹ Since their breakaway from the GIA, the GSPC has become the primary Islamist force in Algeria. Though still partially adhering to their original goal of overthrowing the secular Algerian state and installing a system based on Islamic law, the GSPC’s aims have broadened as they have grown closer to al Qaeda.

The GSPC has been tentatively tied to al Qaeda since at least 2003, when they made a declaration of allegiance to the organization, but they were not publicly accepted into the network until late 2006 when Ayman al-Zawahiri released a tape officially announcing the merger.² In January 2007, the GSPC changed its name to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, further tying the two organizations together.³

The merger with al Qaeda has changed more than the name of the organization. Since they joined, there has been a large increase in the number of attacks carried out by the organization, culminating in the April 11, 2007, simultaneous suicide truck bombings in Algiers that killed 33 people and wounded over 200 others. In addition to this increase in domestic attack capability, there is much concern that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb might extend its reach to attack targets in Europe. This concern is bolstered by the fact that there have been several thwarted attacks by the GSPC in Western Europe, including a plan to launch a chemical attack, though so far the group has been unable to strike outside of Algeria.

While the strength of the group is in dispute – as figures range from 200-3,000 – it is clear that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb maintains the capability to inflict large-scale damage. Usually utilizing conventional terrorist tactics against government targets, such as the truck bombings mentioned above, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb/GSPC has also been responsible for numerous kidnappings for ransom, as well as attacks on foreign nationals operating within Algeria.

The recent surge of attacks within Algeria, coupled with reported ties of the group to Islamist organizations in Morocco and Tunisia, both of which have also had recent increases in Islamist activity,⁴ have led to concerns that this represents a resurgence of terrorism in the region. However, the significant security response to the recent attacks in both Morocco and Algeria could undermine the group’s ability to build momentum.

Notes

1. Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed on April 12, 2007. http://www.cfr.org/publication/12717/ .

2. The date of the release of the videotape with Zawahiri accepting GSPC as an al Qaeda organization was September 11, 2006.

3. Occasionally this has been translated as “al Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb”.

4. Notable in this regard is the April 10, 2007, suicide bombings in Morocco that took place before the large truck bombings carried out by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.