I recently came across another old GSPC video in which it shows an April 2006 ambush on Algerian customs personnel in southern Ghardaia Province. That ambush killed 13 officers as they were traveling across the province.
Moreover, the video appears to confirm what was reported - namely, that the jihadists used heavy machine guns, burned the customs vehicles, and were later targeted by Algerian aircraft in response (which are heard in the video). Most of the video, however, focuses on showing the dead bodies and the response to the Algerian aircraft.
Interestingly, the video is produced by Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad - the same Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad that would launch a wave of kidnappings across the Sahel and constitute a large part of AQIM's forces in northern Mali just years later. I believe the video represents one of the earliest known films produced by the group.
At the start of the video, the title card reads "Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat - Area/Zone 5 - Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad." Most consistently reported as founded by Abderrazzak El Para, in either 2002 or 2003, in GSPC's Zone 5, it is clear that this is the same Tariq bin Ziyad featured in the video. And as such, Tariq bin Ziyad represents the oldest of the al Qaeda brigades operating in the Sahel.
Following El Para's capture by Chadian rebels in 2004, his deputy, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, took over the helms of the group. While it would eventually move further south into the Sahel, it is apparent that the group also still conducted attacks as far north as Ghardaia in Algeria.
Screenshots from the video:
Moreover, the video appears to confirm what was reported - namely, that the jihadists used heavy machine guns, burned the customs vehicles, and were later targeted by Algerian aircraft in response (which are heard in the video). Most of the video, however, focuses on showing the dead bodies and the response to the Algerian aircraft.
Interestingly, the video is produced by Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad - the same Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad that would launch a wave of kidnappings across the Sahel and constitute a large part of AQIM's forces in northern Mali just years later. I believe the video represents one of the earliest known films produced by the group.
At the start of the video, the title card reads "Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat - Area/Zone 5 - Katibat Tariq bin Ziyad." Most consistently reported as founded by Abderrazzak El Para, in either 2002 or 2003, in GSPC's Zone 5, it is clear that this is the same Tariq bin Ziyad featured in the video. And as such, Tariq bin Ziyad represents the oldest of the al Qaeda brigades operating in the Sahel.
Following El Para's capture by Chadian rebels in 2004, his deputy, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, took over the helms of the group. While it would eventually move further south into the Sahel, it is apparent that the group also still conducted attacks as far north as Ghardaia in Algeria.
Screenshots from the video: