Algerian jihadists seek to expand
ALGIERS, Algeria, June 18 (UPI) -- The killing of some 20 Algerian paramilitary policemen in a desert ambush Wednesday by Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaida was a show of force by the jihadists who appear determined to expand their operations across the region and open a new terror front.
The ambush was the work of al-Qaida in the Maghreb, the Arabic name for North Africa. It was formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, one of the most vicious Islamist groups to emerge from Algeria's civil war throughout the 1990s. It swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden's global network in September 2006.
The group has a hard core of an estimated 500 to 800 fighters, a fraction of the tens of thousands active during the war between Islamists and the military-backed regime in Algiers, in which an estimated 200,000 people perished.
But its alliance with Osama bin Laden has meant it has acquired seasoned fighters from other al-Qaida affiliates, many of them veterans of the insurgencies in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently Pakistan.
Wednesday's attack serves as an illustration of the Algerian group's growing expertise in guerrilla warfare that are straight out of the jihadist manual developed in Iraq, with considerable influence from Hezbollah's 27-year-old war in Lebanon against Israel.
Local media stated on Thursday that at least 21 Algerian paramilitary police had been killed after an ambush on their convoy.

The convoy was en route to their barracks at Bordj Bou Arreridj, following an escort of Chinese construction workers to a nearby worksite, located southeast of Algeria's capital of , when it was attacked late Wednesday.

Militants detonated no less than two roadside bombs to block the convoy, consisting of six vehicles. They then opened fire on the police before stealing their uniforms, weapons, and vehicles. The militants, as part of Al-Qaeda's network, are referred to as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, (AQIM).

Newspaper reports indicated that 21 people had died, while a local official said 23 were killed and a further five had been hospitalized.

A large security operation has started in the area; however, the attack was not immediately confirmed by Algerian authorities.

The militants have been left over from a civil war begun in 1992 between the government and radical Islamists that has killed between 150,000 and 200,000 people. Violence has since diminished, but attacks on government forces still occur.