Even as Al Qaeda sympathizers in the United Kingdom make headlines, the terrorist group has seen affiliates taking root in other countries.
In Algeria, officers arrested 13 minors, some as young as 12, and dismantled a terrorist training camp near Algiers in early June.
The young soldiers were members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an outlawed group that calls itself the “North African branch” of Al Qaeda.
The Salafist Group has also come to Spain, where officials arrested two suspected members last week and alleged they were recruiting fighters to be trained in camps as far away as Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Algeria in April, saying its goal was to end the Spanish occupation of the municipalities of Ceuta and Melilla.
In the Philippines, the U.S. Navy promised to help the Armed Forces there to fight the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, which has spread throughout Southeast Asia.
U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Timothy Keating said he is finalizing a five-year plan with the Philippine military that focuses on intelligence and surveillance, All Headline News reports.
Sources:
“Algeria arrests minors at suspected Qaeda-linked training camp”
Agence France-Presse, June 10, 2007
“Spain arrests two Moroccan Al Qaeda suspects”
Agence France-Presse, June 26, 2007
“U.S. vows to aid Philippines in neutralizing al-Qaeda-linked group”
All-Headline News (U.S.), June 27, 2007