January 2, 2008:
The December 11th terrorist attacks in the capital led to a
shake-up in the command of the security forces. It was believed that the
attacks could have been detected and thwarted if the security forces had been
more alert.
December 30, 2007: Acting on a tip, troops killed seven Islamic
terrorists who were hiding in a house in Tebessa, on the Tunisian border.
December 27, 2007: Just across the
border in Mauritania, four soldiers were killed when bandits or terrorists
attacked an outpost.
December 26, 2007: In Mauritania, police are pursuing three
suspected al Qaeda members for the murder and robbery of four French tourists.
The terrorists came upon French tourists having a picnic in the countryside,
and shot and robbed them. The terrorists then apparently fled to Senegal.
Police had been tracking the three. A hundred or more Algerian Islamic
terrorists have fled south to Mauritania and Mali, where they survive via
banditry and other criminal activities.
December 24, 2007: A roadside bomb wounded three soldiers, some
600 kilometers east of the capital.
December 23, 2007: Police defeated a terrorist attempt to attack
a police station 110 kilometers east of the capital. Elsewhere, police defused
three bombs placed near a military checkpoint.
December 22, 2007: Some 550 kilometers east of the capital,
police have surrounded a dozen armed terrorists, after capturing their camp and
a large quantity of ammunition. Meanwhile, 450 kilometers west of the capital,
terrorists killed two security men and took their weapons.