Algerian army kills al-Qaeda operative

Algerian army forces killed an Al-Qaeda gunman in the Islamic Maghreb on Tuesday evening. In the ambush, 75 km west of the capital Algiers, army forces recovered a Kalashnikov machine gun. Sources told Arabstoday that the gunman was headed for a wooded area to set up an ambush for the army unit. Counter-terrorism forces in the Algerian army undertook a large-scale combing operation in the area to track down the gunman’s militia, believed to be hiding out in forest areas whilst the gunman’s body was taken to hospital for identification. Local prosecution in the province of Constantine has recently begun questioning the detained AQIM emir Abdelmalek Sellami.  The 37 year old chief of the Edough Brigade was apprehended in July in the eastern coastal city of Annaba in an ambush set up by security and intelligence services. The authorities recovered a Kalashnikov machine gun, ammunition and wireless communication devices that were in his possession.