Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for the Jan. 2 suicide bombing in Algeria that killed five and injured 20. At 6:45 AM, a small truck laden with explosives drove at high speed towards a police station in Naciria, east of Algiers in the wilaya of Boumerdès. The driver reportedly detonated the Toyota Hilux after he was ordered to stop by police. In a statement aired by Al Arabiya TV, al-Qaeda franchise spokesman Salah Abou Mohammad said the truck carried at least 500 kilogrmas of explosives. A 10-year-old girl on her way to buy milk was among those killed by the blast. Algerian army forces immediately sealed off Naciria and began conducting "military operations" in nearby Sid Ali Bounab, a reported al-Qaeda stronghold. (Magharebia, Jan. 3)

Niger's army reports soldiers shot dead seven Tuareg civilians "by accident" in a fire-fight with rebels from the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) in the Tiguidit region, some 80 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital Agadez. Officials say the civilians were shot when their four Toyota pickups strayed onto the battlefield. Two of those killed were well-known Tuareg traders, Sidi Amar and Ousmane Sidi. "This accident has deeply affected the army which has in its ranks a member of the family of one of those killed," read the Defense Ministry's Dec. 10 statement, claiming residents had been warned of military operations in the area.

Two car bombs detonated on the morning of Dec. 11 at an Algiers court building and a UN facility, leaving over 60 dead, scores injured and more still missing in the rubble of collapsed buildings. When the first bomb exploded at 9:40 AM outside the Constitutional Council in the downtown district of Ben Aknoun, it was heard up to 15 kilometers away. A bus carrying law students to class along the major thoroughfare was crushed in the blast. Just as first responders were arriving the site of the bombing, a second car bomb destroyed the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the neighboring residential district of Hydra. (Magharebia, Dec. 11)

From the International Federation of Journalists, Nov. 23, via AllAfrica:

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today urged President Mamadou Tandja of Niger to take strong action for the release of two journalists accused of criminal offences following their coverage of the Tuareg rebellion in Niger.

The entire population of northern Niger's remote desert town of Iferouane has fled, a local official told BBC last week. Deputy mayor Mohammed Oumma said 5,000 residents were displaced following army reprisals in operations against Tuareg guerillas. The government in Niamey denies that Iferouane, home to several uranium mines, has become a ghost town. (BBC, Nov. 19) President Mamadou Tandja Nov. 23 prolonged an emergency zone in Niger's desert north region of Agadez, extending for a further three months the "state of alert" declared in August. (Reuters, Nov. 23)

The government of Niger reports three soldiers were wounded and four are missing after Tuareg rebels attacked a civilian convoy escorted by the military Nov. 9. The rebel Movement of the People of Niger for Justice (MNJ) claimed it had killed 15 soldiers and captured four. They also said they had destroyed three military vehicles and seized another, but denied having attacked civilians. The ambush took place on the road between Agadez, the regional capital of the desert region of that name, and Arlit to the north.

Tuareg guerillas opened fire with AK-47s on a US Hercules military aircraft flying in supplies for Malian troops pinned down at Tin-Zawatine near the border with Algeria Sept. 12. There were no casualties and the plane managed to return to base at Mali's capital, Bamako. But this represents the first time that the US military force in Mali, ostensibly introduced to counter Islamist militants, has become embroiled in the Tuareg conflict. "It was not a normal event. We do not do this day to day," said Major John Dorrian, spokesman for the US European Command that also covers Africa. But he would not rule out the prospect of providing similar support in future. "Any such request would be handled on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Trade unions in Algeria are calling on members to rally Sept. 9 to denounce suicide attacks that have claims dozens of lives in recent days. (BBC, Sept. 8) Workers at Algeria's ports have also threatened with a series of rolling strikes in protest of the government's privatization plans. Algiers is negotiating with Dubai Ports World over the company taking a 50% stake in the container terminal at the port of Djen Djen. The Coordination Nationale des Syndicats des Ports d'Algerie (CNSPA), which represents many of the Algerian unions working on the docks and in the maritime sector, has vocally opposed the change. (Echorouk Online, Aug. 18)