Algeria: AQIM Targets Foreign Companies
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 1 April 2016 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Algeria: AQIM Targets Foreign Companies, 1 April 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 3, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5703830b4.html [accessed 18 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Algeria's In Salah gas field. At 6:00am on March 18, three rockets hit the facility in Krechba in the desert region of Ain Saleh, though there were no injuries and the attack caused no damage according to Statoil and BP, the oil companies that run the facility alongside Algeria's Sonatrach.
The In Salah attack is the first assault on an oil and gas facility in Algeria since In Amenas in 2013, but seems to have been much less ambitious in scale. The In Amenas attack saw gunmen led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar seize the facility - also run by BP and Statoil - and subsequently hold hundreds of workers hostage. At least 40 people lost their lives, including those who were killed when the Algerian army mounted a rescue operation. The event led to a great deal of soul searching, not just on the part of Algeria; in the UK, an inquest strongly criticized BP for not taking adequate security precautions (The Guardian, February 26, 2015).
The response this time seems to have been better organized. The Algerian military reacted quickly, surrounding the plant and mounting an operation around the gas field, reportedly killing four militants (Alalam, March 21), and wounding another three (PressTV, March 20). In the meantime, both BP and Statoil withdrew their employees from the field, leaving the operation of the plant to Sonatrach's Algerian staff. Sonatrach confirmed its staff were keeping the plant running following a temporary shutdown during the attack, adding that, in fact, production had since increased (Algeria Press Service, March 22).
AQIM's targeting of foreign companies and Algeria's gas facilities is a strike at an economic nerve, but its statement on the attack that its fighters had used 130mm rockets to target "the Crusader BP, the plunderer of our wealth" (TSA, March 18) may also be designed to cultivate local grievances about the exploitation of natural resources. Unconnected with BP's project, In Salah was the scene of protests against shale gas exploration in 2014, where demonstrators complained the process was contaminating the water supply. By January 2015, there were reports of a 15,000-strong demonstration, with further protests in Tamanrasset, Ouargla, and even in the capital city of Algiers (The New Arab, March 17), leading eventually to the downfall of then minister of energy and mines, Youcef Yousfi (Le Monde, May 15, 2015).
