A clash erupted between Algerian army forces and an armed group affiliated with the terrorist organization “Al-Qaeda” in the Al-Attaf area in the Ain Defla province, 160 kilometers west of the Algerian capital, on Sunday morning.
The clash resulted in the killing of three militants from the group, while army forces continued a large-scale combing operation to pursue other elements.
Local sources confirmed the death of a civilian and the injury of another who were near the scene of the clash, as the army temporarily closed the main road between the town of Al-Attaf and Sidi Bou Abidah to protect civilians.
The Algerian authorities did not announce any additional details about the incident, which is the second of its kind in the region since last April, and the third since the arrest of the leadership of “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” in March 2022, including the organization’s Mufti, Asim Abu Hayyan.
On July 7, Algerian army forces eliminated militants from the “Al-Qaeda” organization, and on April 26, they killed the so-called Abu Dahha in the Wadi al-Fida area in the Chlef province.
The army had arrested four militants during a combing operation in the Ain El Kasria area in the town of Bordj Emir Abdelkader in the state of Tissemsilt.
It is likely that the militants who were killed in Ain Defla were remnants of the “Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb” that is still based in western Algeria.
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