Mokhtar Belmokhtar
Mokhtar Belmokhtar (; ;pronounced in Algerian Arabic as 1 June 1972 – November 2016), also known as Khalid Abu al-Abbas, the One-Eyed, Nelson, and the Uncatchable, was an Algerian leader of the group Al-Murabitoun, former military commander of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, smuggler and weapons dealer. He was twice convicted and sentenced to death ''in absentia'' under separate charges in Algerian courts: in 2007 for terrorism and in 2008 for murder. In 2004, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Algeria for terrorist activities.''Algeria: Court Sentences Fugitive Qaeda Leader To Death'', Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 23 January 2012, Internet article. Born in northern Algeria, Belmokhtar traveled to Afghanistan in 1991 to fight with the '' mujahadeen'' against the pro-Soviet government following the withdrawal of Soviet Union troops. There, he lost his left eye while mishandling explosives. He later joined the Islamist GIA fighting in the Algerian Civil War and following ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ghardaïa
Ghardaïa (, ) is the capital city of Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. The commune of Ghardaïa has a population of 93,423 according to the 2008 census, up from 87,599 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 0.7%. It is located in northern-central Algeria in the Sahara and lies along the left bank of the Wadi Mzab. The M'zab in the Ghardaïa Province was made a World Heritage Site in 1982, as a cultural property evaluated under the criteria II (for its settlement affecting urban planning even to the present century), III (for its Ibadi cultural values), and V (a settlement culture which has prevailed to the present century). Ghardaïa is part of a pentapolis, a hilltop city amongst four others, built almost a thousand years ago in the M’Zab valley. It was founded by the Mozabites, an Ibadi sect of the Berber Muslims. It is a major centre of date production and the manufacture of rugs and cloths. Divided into three walled sectors, it is a fortified town. At the centre is the histo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al-Mourabitoun (jihadist Group)
Al-Mourabitoun () was an African militant Jihadism, jihadist organization formed by a merger between Ahmed Ould Amer, a.k.a. Ahmed al-Tilemsi's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, and Mokhtar Belmokhtar's Al-Mulathameen. On 4 December 2015, it joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The group sought to implement Sharia, Sharia law in Mali, Algeria, southwestern Libya, and Niger. On 2 March 2017, al-Mourabitoun's cells in Mali, along with those of Ansar Dine, Macina Liberation Front and the Saharan branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, merged into Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, the official branch of Al-Qaeda in Mali, after its leaders swore allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri. Origins and membership Al-Mourabitoun was composed mostly of Tuareg people, Tuaregs and Arabs from the northern Mali regions of Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao, but also included Algerian people, Algerians, Tunisians and other nationalities. Its area of operations was in northern Mali, nea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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In Aménas Hostage Crisis
The In Amenas hostage crisis began on 16 January 2013, when al-Qaeda-linked terrorists affiliated with a brigade led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar took expat hostages at the Tigantourine gas facility near In Amenas, Algeria. One of Belmokhtar's senior lieutenants, Abdul al Nigeri, led the attack and was among the terrorists killed. After four days, the Algerian special forces raided the site, in an effort to free the hostages. At least 39 foreign hostages were killed along with an Algerian security guard, although the true figure is not known, as were 29 terrorists. A total of 685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners were freed. Three terrorists were captured. It was one of many attacks in the Maghreb carried out by Islamist groups since 2002. There is evidence that the threat was increasing prior to this incident. There is also evidence of a direct threat to expat workers. Attack The most detailed publicly available information about the attack comes from the transcript of the ey ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al-Qaeda In The Islamic Maghreb
Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (, ), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to overthrow the Algerian government and institute an Islamic state. To that end, it was then engaged in an insurgency campaign in the Maghreb and Sahel regions. The group originated as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). It has since declared its intention to attack European (including Spanish and French) and American targets. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Membership is mostly drawn from the Algerian and local Saharan communities (such as the Tuaregs and Berabiche tribal clans of Mali), as well as Moroccans from city suburbs of the North African country. The group has also been suspected of having links with the Horn of Africa-based militant group Al-Shabaab. AQIM has focused on kid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauritania, to the south by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and to the west by Guinea and Senegal. The population of Mali is about 23.29 million, 47.19% of which are estimated to be under the age of 15 in 2024. Its Capital city, capital and largest city is Bamako. The country has 13 official languages, of which Bambara language, Bambara is the most commonly spoken. The sovereign state's northern borders reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, Sahara Desert. The country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, is in the Sudanian savanna and has the Niger River, Niger and Senegal River, Senegal rivers running through it. The country's economy centres on agriculture and mining with its most promine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country by area, extending across Time in Russia, eleven time zones and sharing Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors, borders with twelve countries, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of Republics of the Soviet Union, national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, Government of the Soviet Union, its government and Economy of the Soviet Union, economy were Soviet-type economic planning, highly centralized. As a one-party state go ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soviet Withdrawal From Afghanistan
Pursuant to the Geneva Accords of 14 April 1988, the Soviet Union conducted a total military withdrawal from Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Afghanistan between 15 May 1988 and 15 February 1989. Headed by the Soviet military officer Boris Gromov, the retreat of the 40th Army (Soviet Union), 40th Army into the Soviet Central Asia, Union Republics of Central Asia formally brought the Soviet–Afghan War to a close after nearly a decade of fighting. It marked a significant development in the Afghan conflict, having served as the precursor event to the Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), First Afghan Civil War. Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, began planning for a military disengagement from Afghanistan soon after he was elected by the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Politburo. Under his leadership, the Soviet Union attempted to aid the consolidation of power by the People's Democrati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mujahadeen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the community (''ummah''). The widespread use of the word in English began with reference to the guerrilla-type militant groups led by the Islamist Afghan fighters in the Soviet–Afghan War (see Afghan mujahideen). The term now extends to other jihadist groups in various countries. Early history In its roots, the Arabic word ''mujahideen'' refers to any person performing ''jihad''. In its post-classical meaning, ''jihad'' refers to an act that is spiritually comparable in reward to promoting Islam during the early 600s CE. These acts could be as simple as sharing a considerable amount of one's income with the poor. Modern Western definition The term continued to be used throughout India for Muslim resistance to British colonial rule. During th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civil War In Afghanistan (1989-1992)
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries *Mongol campaigns in Central Asia (1216–1222), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire * Mughal conquests in Afghanistan (1526), the conquest by the Mughal Empire * Afghan-Sikh Wars (1748–1837), intermittent wars between the Afghans and the Punjabis. * Afghan Civil War (1863–1869), a civil war between Sher Ali Khan and Mohammad Afzal Khan's faction after the death of Dost Mohammad Khan * Anglo−Afghan Wars, wars conducted by British India in Afghanistan ** First Anglo−Afghan War (1839–1842) ** Second Anglo−Afghan War (1878–1880) ** Third Anglo−Afghan War (1919) *Panjdeh incident (1885), an incursion into Afghanistan by the Russian Empire during the era of the "Great Game" *Afgha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran border, west, Turkmenistan to the Afghanistan–Turkmenistan border, northwest, Uzbekistan to the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border, north, Tajikistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, northeast, and China to the Afghanistan–China border, northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains Afghan Turkestan, in the north and Sistan Basin, the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. Demographics of Afghanistan, Afghanistan's population is estimated to be between 36 and 50 million. Ancient history of Afghanistan, Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empire ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Radio Netherlands
Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. English and Indonesian language services ceased on 29 June 2012 due to steep budget cuts imposed by the Dutch government and a concomitant change in focus. The last programme broadcast on shortwave was a daily half-hour show in Spanish for Cuba named ''El Toque'' (''The Touch'') on 1 August 2014. Radio Netherlands Worldwide was replaced by RNW Media, a Dutch non profit for free speech and social change around the world. History Early days (Philips Radio) Following a series of experiments on various wavelengths in 1925, reports of good reception from a low-power shortwave transmitter were received from Jakarta on 11 March 1927. Dutch Queen Wilhelmina made what is believed to be the world's first royal broadcast on 1 June 1927, addressi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |