Global InformationArmed Islamic Group of Algeria information
| Armed Islamic Group الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates of operation | 1993–2004 |
| Motives | The creation of an Islamic state in Algeria |
| Active regions | Algeria, France |
| Ideology | Qutbism[1] Islamism Jihadism Islamic Fundamentalism |
| Major actions | Assassinations, massacres, bombings, aircraft hijackings, kidnapping |
| Notable attacks | Tahar Djaout assassination, Djillali Liabes assassination, Cheb Hasni assassination, 1994, Air France Flight 8969 hijacking, January 1995 Algiers bombing, 1995 France bombings, Murder of the monks of Tibhirine, Lounès Matoub assassination, Hidroelektra workers massacre |
| Designated as a terrorist group by |  Algeria Argentina Bahrain Canada France Japan New Zealand United Kingdom United Nations United States |
The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from French: Groupe Islamique Armé; Arabic: الجماعة الإسلامية المسلّحة, romanized: al-Jamāʿa al-ʾIslāmiyya al-Musallaḥa) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War.
It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and arrest and internment of thousands of officials in the Islamist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) party after that party won the first round of parliamentary elections in December 1991. It was led by a succession of amirs (commanders) who were killed or arrested one after another. Unlike the other main armed groups, the Mouvement Islamique Arme (MIA) and later the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), in its pursuit of an Islamic state the GIA sought not to pressure the government into concessions but to destabilise and overthrow it, to "purge the land of the ungodly".[2] Its slogan inscribed on all communiques was: "no agreement, no truce, no dialogue".[2] GIA's ideology was inspired by the Jihadist writings of the Egyptian Islamist scholar Sayyid Qutb.[1]
The group desired to create "an atmosphere of general insecurity"[2] and employed kidnapping, assassination, and bombings, including car bombs and targeted not only security forces but civilians. Between 1992 and 1998, the GIA conducted a violent campaign of civilian massacres, sometimes wiping out entire villages in its area of operation (notably those in Bentalha and Rais). It attacked and killed other Islamists who had left the GIA or attempted to negotiate with the government. It also targeted foreign civilians living in Algeria, killing more than 100 expatriate men and women in the country.
The group established a presence outside Algeria, in France, Belgium, Britain, Italy and the United States, and launched terror attacks in France in 1994 and 1995. The "undisputed principal Islamist force" in Algeria in 1994,[3] by 1996, militants were deserting "in droves", alienated by its execution of civilians and Islamist leaders.[4]
In 1999, a government amnesty law motivated large numbers of jihadis to "repent". The remnants of the GIA proper were hunted down over the next two years, leaving a splinter group the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC),[5] which announced its support for Al-Qaeda in October 2003.[6][7] The extent to which the group was infiltrated and manipulated by Algerian security services is disputed.[8][9][10][11][12]
The GIA is considered a terrorist organisation by the governments of Algeria, France, the United States, Argentina,[13] Bahrain,[14] Canada,[15] Japan,[16] New Zealand,[17] the United Kingdom[18] and the United Nations,.[19] The GIA remains a Proscribed Organisation in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.[20]
- ^ a b Tully, Sarah. "Jihad in Algeria: Sayyid Qutb's Legacy on the Groupe Islamique Armé/Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the Armée Islamique du Salut/Islamic Salvation Army (AIS)". Archived from the original on 31 August 2017 – via Academia.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ a b c Kepel, Jihad, 2002: p.260, 266
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
GKJTPI2002:265was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kepel, Jihad, 2002: p.269-70
- ^ Hugh Roberts, The Battlefield Algeria, 1988-2002: Studies in a Broken Polity, Verso: London 2003, p. 269: "Hassan Hattab's GSPC which has condemned the GIA's indiscriminate attacks on civilians and, since going it alone, has tended to revert to the classic MIA-AIS strategy of confining its attacks to guerrilla forces",
- ^ Whitlock, Craig (5 October 2006). "Al-Qaeda's Far-Reaching New Partner". Washington Post. p. A01. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
- ^ Algerian group backs al-Qaeda. 23 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2004-06-22. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
bbc-2-9-2002was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Ajami-2010was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Schindler-2012was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
hrw-1994was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
wlumlwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Registro Público de Personas y Entidades vinculadas a actos de Terrorismo y su Financiamiento (RePET)". Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Nación [Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Argentina)] (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 February 2020.
- ^ "Bahrain Terrorist List (individuals – entities)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Currently listed entities". Public Safety Canada. Government of Canada. 21 December 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ National Police Agency (Japan) (18 February 2022). "国際テロリスト財産凍結法第３条に基づき公告された国際テロリスト" (PDF) (in Japanese). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ "Lists associated with Resolutions 1267/1989/2253 and 1988". New Zealand Police. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Proscribed terrorist groups". Home Office. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Narrative Summaries of Reasons for Listing (ISIL & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee)". United Nations Security Council. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Proscribed Organisations". Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11, sched. 2). UK Public General Acts. 2000-07-20. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21.