November 16, 2004

Rebel violence during Ramadan left about 50 people dead. This was a large drop from last year, and a huge drop from the late 1990s, when rebel attacks would kill over a thousand people. But the fact that fifty civilians and police died in the last month indicates that there are still several groups of Islamic rebels operating. These attacks took place all across the northern coastal areas of Algeria. It's thought that the remaining rebels number only a few hundred. It is known that some have gone to Iraq, where Sunni Arab money men are hiring gunmen to fight coalition forces and the new Iraqi government. Other Algerian Islamic radicals have fled to Europe, where more and more of them are being arrested as counter-terrorist operations continue there.