December 11, 2007: As in so many other countries,
the proliferation of cell phone use has proved disastrous for the terrorists.
In the last seven years, the number of cell phone users in Algeria has gone
from 54,000 to 25 million. That means 75 percent of the adult population has a
cell phone, and you can get a signal in many rural areas, as well as nearly all
urban ones. As was the case in Iraq, once a cell phone using population turns
against the terrorists, the timely reports to police greatly increase, making
it much more difficult for terrorists to move around undetected. Meanwhile, the
terrorists favorite communications tool, the Internet, is not as widely
established, with only four million users in Algeria.
December 9, 2007: For the second time this year,
Islamic terrorists attacked foreign (Russian) technicians at a natural gas
facility west of the capital. But the two roadside bombs misfired, and no one
was injured.
December 6, 2007: Terrorist activity took a sharp
drop in November, when only six people (four civilians and two terrorists) were
killed. In October, terrorist activity left sixty dead. The new "Al Qaeda
in North Africa" began the year threatening a renewed war against the
Algerian government. But it all turned out to be more wishful thinking than
anything else. There are still a few Islamic terrorists out and about, but they
spend most of their time trying to avoid getting caught.
December 5, 2007: East of the capital, a
group of terrorists attacked a bus carrying military personnel, but were driven
off by troops.
