Algerian militants believed to be alligned to the AQIM attacked a paramilitary patrol in the southern reaches of Algeria's vast Saharan desert yesterday. The attack is unusual as AQIM militants have conducted the vast majority of their terrorist aggression in the mountainous north of the country where they are afforded a greater deal of cover. The south of the country has usually been AQIM's centre of smuggling and kidnapping operations which finance their military ventures further north. Military operations in these theatre against the well-armed and aerial capable Algerian army are not logical options. The reasons for the attack are therefore slightly unclear. Why would they attack a well-armed convoy in the middle of nowhere? There are two possible scenarios/reasons. The first is chance. The AQIM militants may well have stumbled upon the convoy during their everyday operations in the south and had no option but to engage the convoy. The second is that the AQIM were attempting to send a message to the Algerian government. In April, the Algerian government established a joint anti-terrorism unit in the southern town of Tamnarraset to curb the growing risk of AQIM militancy in the wider Saharan region. The well-publicised opening of the unit would have been received by the AQIM. This attack may well be a first indication that the group, starved of alternatives, may be sending a clear message, "we will not move". Whatever the reasons, the attack is not likely to be the last. AQIM have a now established presence in the central Sahara and are taking advantage of lucrative criminal enterprises in this theatre. They will not want to lose this.
