[Washington Times] Eli Lake - An al-Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday. The official could not confirm press reports that the accident killed at least 40 operatives of Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Maghreb (AQIM), but he said the mishap led the group to shut down a base in the mountains of Tizi Ouzou province in eastern Algeria. AQIM, according to U.S. intelligence estimates, maintains about a dozen bases in Algeria. In 2007, the group said it bombed UN headquarters in Algiers, killing 41 people.
2009-01-21 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive