The Algerian quagmire--al Qaeda's human bomb attack

Times:

At least 23 people were killed and 162 injured in Algeria yesterday as suicide bombers struck the capital, raising the spectre of a return to Islamist terrorism that spread mayhem across the country in the 1990s.

The explosions came 24 hours after a series of suicide bombs in neighbouring Morocco had fuelled fears of a regional extremist campaign, although Moroccan authorities deny that the attacks are linked.

In a blow to the heart of the State, one vehicle exploded as it hit the offices of Abdelaziz Belkhadem, the Prime Minister, in central Algiers. He escaped unhurt but officials said that 12 people had died and 118 were injured in the blast, which came seven months after the main terrorist movement in Algeria joined al-Qaeda.

The explosion blew a gaping hole in the six-storey colonial-era block that the Prime Minister shares with the Interior Ministry and sent a shower of glass and rubble over a 300-metre radius.

Almost simultaneously 11 people died and at least 44 were injured as two car bombs exploded in the Bab Ezzouar district on the road to Algiers international airport.

One destroyed an electricity station and a second damaged the district police station.

The North African branch of al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks in an internet statement that included photographs of what it said were the suicide bombers.

The scenes in Algiers were grimly reminiscent of the terrorist war that cost up to 200,000 lives between 1992 and 1998. That came after the first multiparty elections since the country gained independence from France in 1962. The army moved in to halt the poll when it became clear that an Islamic party was on the way to victory and the military quelled terrorist activity ruthlessly.

The bombings yesterday appeared to signal an end to the policy of national reconciliation championed by President Bouteflika.

...

There is a wicked enemy out there and ignoring him is not going to make him go away. He wants to subjugate the world and make everyone bend to his weird religious beliefs and weird women's fashions. Dressing women in funny clothes is not something to laugh at and it is another step on the road to submission that the enemy plans.