Al Qaeda In Islamic Maghreb Storm Algerian Base, Kill 9 Security Forces

The al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb have struck again at a secured base in Algeria, storming the location and killing nine government security forces and wounding two. This is just another reminder of the fight that the Algerians have on their hands. Here's some of the details from the report from the BBC:

Suspected Islamist militants in Algeria have killed nine security guards and wounded two at a camp east of the capital, Algiers.
The attackers bombed the compound near Jijel being used by the guards, who were working for the state-owned gas and electricity distributor Sonelgaz.
The area around Jijel, 350km (220 miles) from Algiers, is a stronghold of al-Qaeda's north African branch.
Attacks by militants in Algeria have increased in recent months.
Security sources as well as residents and local journalists confirmed the casualties in the attack on the security guards' Ziama Mansouriah compound on Sunday evening.
A mortar bomb was fired at the guards' quarters before the camp was attacked by a "horde" of militants, the Algerian newspaper El Watan reports.

This attack fits with the al Qaeda strategy of continually attacking security forces and police in a nation - one of their first emphasis is to try and dry up the peace keeping forces by eliminating any new recruits to police and security forces by the example of dead from these attacks. At the same time, the chaos created by these attack and the seemingly random nature of them adds fuel to the terror message.

I've said it before that Algeria is making the mistake that they can handle this uprising by al Qaeda by itself - and if they don't ask for some help soon, they will see a similar situation that is gripping Somalia. At the same time, Algeria has its own issues with complicity in its own ranks with the radical islamists - much of the same coercion that we have seen by Pakistani security forces in Pakistan's volatile regions.

Deadly raid on east Algerian base

Suspected Islamist militants in Algeria have killed nine security guards and wounded two at a camp east of the capital, Algiers.
The attackers bombed the compound near Jijel being used by the guards, who were working for the state-owned gas and electricity distributor Sonelgaz.
The area around Jijel, 350km (220 miles) from Algiers, is a stronghold of al-Qaeda's north African branch.
Attacks by militants in Algeria have increased in recent months.
Security sources as well as residents and local journalists confirmed the casualties in the attack on the security guards' Ziama Mansouriah compound on Sunday evening.
A mortar bomb was fired at the guards' quarters before the camp was attacked by a "horde" of militants, the Algerian newspaper El Watan reports.
The two wounded guards are being treated in hospital for serious injuries.
The guards, who worked for the private security company Spas, had been protecting Sonelgaz facilities, the newspaper adds.
Militants killed three security guards from the same firm in the same area almost a year ago, it notes.
Spas employs about 12,500 personnel, protecting 800 Sonelgaz sites across Algeria, according to the energy distributor.