Wüstenschiff

An Algerian terrorist leader who was the alleged target of US air strikes outside Ajdabiya this June, is now also said to be on an IS death list.

The terrorist organization al-Qaida announced, through the voice of its leader Hassan Abderraouf, the death of the enigmatic Algerian terrorist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alias Belaouer (One-eyed). The announcement was made via an animated audio recording, through which the terrorist leader said that despite losing two of its greatest leaders, Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abu Basir, the organization of Al-Qaeda remains a "powerful organization", feared by the world's greatest military powers

ALGIERS- elements of the Algerian Army under the Tebessa operational sector (5th Military Region) shot yesterday, Tuesday, October 6 at 9:20 pm, in the area of Bir El-Atter, the dangerous terrorist Bakari Ali, alias Abul Hassan, said in a statement the department of National Defense. "The operation allows the recovery of one (01) of Kalashnikov submachine gun type (03) chargers (187) bullets, explosives and mobile phones," the statement added. The terrorist Abul Hasan was, according to the same source, "one of the first criminals who joined terrorist groups with wife in 1995 in Jebel Labiedh, before moving to the Sahel region in 2000, where he became one of Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s allies?"

No day passes without the circulation of contradictory information alleging that the most wanted Algerian terrorist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, is still alive or that he was killed few months ago. This week, in the space of just few days, these conflicting information resurfaced again ... Today, the same doubts surround al-Qaeda’s recorded audio message released during the weekend announcing the terrorist’s death without giving any hints as to the circumstances of his killing.

The infamous terrorist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alias Belaouer (the one-eyed) is still alive. This was expected! The man was reported dead several times, but each time, the "one-eyed" terrorist signs a new attack to deny the information of his death. This time, and according to security sources, Belmokhtar is reportedly planning attacks against airports and other critical infrastructure in the south of the country. Security measures have been taken to deal with any eventuality, especially after the series of terrorist attacks in different regions in the world (Paris, Bamako, Tunis etc ...)

While he is most widely known for the bloodshed at In Amenas, Belmokhtar’s ascent in North Africa’s jihadist circles was financed by a $1 billion North African network in contraband tobacco he helped create. After successfully ransoming European hostages in 2003, he developed an underground trading business throughout the Sahara that was built along ancient salt roads used by Tuareg tribes. By marrying himself to the daughters of powerful Tuareg families, Belmokhtar secured the routes he needed to transport smuggled cigarettes from Ghana, Benin, and Togo all the way up to Algeria and the Mediterranean beyond. Belmokhtar’s venture was so successful that it has earned him the nickname “Mr. Marlboro” ever since. Contraband tobacco is big business throughout the continent: Africans smoke 400 billion cigarettes a year, and 60 billion of those have been smuggled. In a new publication from the U.S. State Department titled “The Global Illicit Trade in Tobacco: A Threat to National Security” the American government spells out how cigarette smuggling undermines security in Africa and the world over.

Der Dschihadist soll für viele Anschläge verantwortlich sein. Auch die jüngsten Attacken in Burkina Faso gehen wohl auf das Konto seiner Terrorgruppe. Wer ist Mokhtar Belmokhtar? Der Mann sieht aus, als sei er für einen Endzeitfilm über Desperados der Wüste gecastet worden. Pechschwarzer Turban, das linke Auge durch eine Glaskugel ersetzt, harte Gesichtszüge, Kampfjacke. Eine Figur zum Fürchten, und genauso will Mokhtar Belmokhtar offenkundig auch wirken ...

The wife of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the Algerian-born head of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), is reported to have been tracked down and arrested near the desert town of Mechili, some 100 kilometres south of Beida. She and another Tunisian woman, together with their driver, were caught heading towards Jufra, south of Sirte, according to the Libyan news agency LANA [...] It is being suggested that they were on their way to meet Belmokhtar in southern Libya. There is no other confirmation of the report, however. A number of reports claim that Belmokhtar was the prime target of the air raid on Gurdah Al-Shatti six days ago in which a number of AQIM fighters were said to have been killed. Although the anti-terrorism directorate has said that the one of the two Tunisian women arrested is Belmokhtar’s wife, it has not named her. It was not previously recorded known that he had a Tunisian wife. He is known to have had four but they were supposedly all from Mali.

Reports that one of the top commanders of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdulrahman Talha, was killed in an air raid in the southern Libyan town of Gurdah Al-Shatti yesterday have been denied by a local official . . .