The Algerian government is pursuing a certain security strategy mainly aimed at countering terrorist organizations and armed groups affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Its most important measures can be outlined as follows:
Safe Corridors
1- Opening Secure Crossings on the Border with Mali and Niger to encourage extremists to turn themselves in and quit terrorist organizations in which they are members. The crossings were opened in the period from January 2017 to February 2018 as part of a cautious security policy pursued by the security services based on the need to re-control the border with neighboring countries or tighten security measures at airports and seaports in cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
The Algerian government announced the opening of safe corridors to receive extremists involved in terrorist organizations operating in the desert in Mali and Niger. Later, it announced that some 35 militants entered through corridors opened by the Algerian army on the southern border, which is put under tight surveillance as part of a wide-reaching campaign aimed at combating terrorism and to crack down on arms smugglers operating through these borders. Two such corridors were created on the border with Mali to hand over militants near the town of Timiaouine.
The Algerian border which stretches for 4000 kilometers and the mountains in the north-east offer a favorable terrain for extremists and terrorist organizations to sneak easily. Since early 1990s, the area proved to be ideal for extremists and therefore a challenge for the Algerian authorities.
The opening of these passages was aimed at encouraging extremists wishing to return to their home country to turn themselves in to the authorities and leave their organizations in exchange for general amnesty, which allows them to reintegrate into society. This was in response to the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation approved in February 2006 following a popular referendum in September 2005. Some 97 percent of citizens voted for the charter which offered general amnesty to terrorist organizations in exchange for handing in their arms to the state and being compliant with the conditions of the amnesty. Those found guilty of murders were excepted from the amnesty.
Capacity-Building
2- Enhancing the Efficiency of Security Agencies and Armed Forces involved in Combating Terrorism. This is being implemented through a number of national and joint training programs, as well as upgrading weapons systems in use. Algeria gave special attention to counter-terrorist weapons, heavy military equipment as well as wiretap and surveillance equipment upgrades that enhanced the ability of Algerian security agencies to monitor all religious organizations and individuals suspected of belonging to jihadist groups and organizations.
Specialized Programs
3- Effective Participation in US-backed Counter-Terrorism Activities in the Desert. These aim to enhance counter-terrorism capabilities of Maghreb and Mediterranean countries. Specialized programs were designed to assess the changing nature of threats across North Africa, including Algeria. Additionally, the state pursued a foreign policy based on coordination with neighboring countries to reach political settlements to crises in these countries. It was also a co-founder of the Global Counter-terrorism Forum, established in September 2011. Later, in October 2017, it hosted the first
GCTF on West Africa. The Capacity-building in the West Africa Region Working Group, co-chaired by Algeria and Canada, was held to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation in the group’s priority areas.
French Understandings
4- Cooperating with French military forces in carrying out a security strategy targeting terrorist organizations, in line with the strategy pursued by Algeria over the past years. AQIM suffered painful blows both from Algerian army and French troops in north Mali near the Algerian border. In the strikes, several elements of the organizations were killed and others fled to Libya and other African countries.
The murder of French citizen Herve Gourdel in September 2014 in Algeria prompted the Algerian army to unleash a crackdown campaign in Kabylie, a natural mountainous region with dense forests, that was part of what became known as the “triangle of death” during the “black decade”. Then, the Algerian government deployed troops to clean the north from ISIS to allow the army to focus on the southern border with Libya, Mali and Niger through which fleeing extremists may seek to sneak in.
Reducing Risks
Through airstrikes and land operations, the Algerian army succeeded in achieving several goals of which the following stood out:
1- Curtailing the expansion of al-Qaeda and ISIS, the two most dangerous organizations threatening regional security and stability, and reducing their ability to recruit new militants into their tanks. It should be taken into consideration that, according to previous Algerian estimates, there are less than 400 jihadists in the country.
2- Enabling the army and security forces to disband the Jund al-Khilafah fi Ard al-Jazair, an ISIS affiliate in Algeria, especially in the provinces of Bouira, Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou. Leaders of the group were killed and their structures were dismantled.
3- Expelling Extremists Affiliated with ISIS from Mountains East of the Capital two years after they kidnapped and executed a French tourist in the area which was a stronghold of al-Qaeda.
The measures taken by the Algerian government as part of combating terrorism succeeded in reducing threats to national security posed by terrorist organizations. This was possible through implementation of a new national strategy combating crucial containment of the phenomenon and nipping potential threats in the bud. The main goal is to eliminate these threats while also pursuing a direct security and military approach featuring direct strikes against al-Qaeda strongholds.
Weaknesses
Observers believe that despite the strengths of the Algerian government's strategy to counter extremism and terrorism, it has some weaknesses. In particular, it over-relies on religious parties such as the Movement of Society for Peace, the Islamic Renaissance Movement and the Movement for National Reform, which created what became known as the Green Algeria Alliance, to allow them to carry out some missions of the state, including creating a social incubator for returning extremists. They also criticize the state for preventing those returnees from exercising their political rights. In their view, this can negatively impact the orientations of those willing to return to their country and revise their views, and force some of them to cling to extremist ideology and resort to violence as a means of bringing about change.
